Naruto's Friend
by RedR0se1248
Summary: "WHAT did you just call Naruto? Shove it! He's my best friend! Yeah, That's right! KEEP RUNNING!" Naruto meets a girl who shows him compassion and ferocity beyond anything he's experienced. Can she save him from loneliness? Or Orochimaru, when he attacks Naruto for the Kyuubi? What if both Sasuke and Naruto fall in love with her? Naru\Oc Sasu\Oc and slight SasuSaku.
1. Meeting A New Friend: The Beginning

One: **The New Girl!**

"Hey look, it's _that_ kid."

"Ugh, he's so pathetic. Imagine what would happen if _he_ became a Shinobi."

"That thing would come out and destroy the village-"

"Don't talk about that! It's taboo!"

Naruto heard the same strange and hurtful conversation for about the millionth time in his life on his way to the Ninja Academy after a _long_ school break due to the weather. He had been excited to start again, but now his spirits had been killed and he slumped back into sadness. Yeah, he could've started shouting stuff about becoming Hokage, like he usually did, but today he just didn't feel like fighting it.

Naruto opened the classroom door reluctantly, his sadness becoming apparent to his undistracted classmates.

"Hey, Shikamaru, Naruto's acting weird," said Kiba. (Remember, these guys are like seven.)

"I brought earmuffs just for his loud voice! Why's that troublesome kid being all sad?" Shikamaru mumbled back. He and Kiba were interrupted by their teacher, Fubuki Sensei. (Not a real character, so here's what you need to know: she's a total anti kyuubi-Naruto jerkface :P)

"Class, I missed you all over the break!_*Thinks: except for_ that _kid.* _We have a new student! Go ahead and introduce yourself!" The new girl caught Naruto's eye and most of the other students with a big, bright smile and a flip of her long, thick, brown hair. Her smile was so contagious it got Naruto's spirits to lift once again.

"Hey! My name is Annie!" The teacher then frowned at the strange (totally un-Japanese) name and said, "Oh, well, what's your last name, Annie?"

"Ehh…Uhh…ermm…Marufuji!" The sudden hesitation in Annie's voice caught Fubuki, Shikamaru, and Sasuke Uchiha off. They were the only ones with that sort of attention span in the room. Was she lying about her own last name?

"Oh…well, I'll introduce you to everyone in this room. In the back row is Kiba, Shikamaru, Chouji, Neji, Ino-"

"Hey, you forgot him!" Annie pointed at Naruto. He sat right between Shikamaru and Chouji.

"Oh, he doesn't need a name. Just call him _Baka_, or something." The teacher said out loud. The classroom burst out laughing. But, for some reason, Annie didn't. Her friendly smile suddenly turned dark and poisonous.

"That's not very nice." She said.

"Well, he's not a very nice kid. He's selfish and rude." The teacher huffed. Annie glared at her. The class looked confused. Fubuki usually made her insults funny, but this was taking it too far.

"_What_ did you just say? Aren't you a teacher? Why would you say that? What is his dang name?" Annie shouted. This took everyone by surprise. Even Shikamaru, a sensible and neutral kid, usually laughed at the teacher's rude jokes toward Naruto, but this girl didn't even know him and she was going as far as disrespecting a teacher for him. Naruto was shocked too. _Was somebody….standing up for him?_

"Hmph, I will take your disrespectful manner into memory, Annie. Oh, and his name is _Naruto, _since you want to know so badly," said Fubuki shortly. Kiba smiled. He liked this kid. Spunky. Happy. Different. He hoped she was good at fighting, sparring with her would be fun.

Naruto just sat there, shocked, until he realized he should be happy. He threw the biggest smile he had at Annie, and she smiled back.

Four months later-

"Okay, Annie, show me what you got!" Ino shouted, feeling anxious to show off for Sasuke during the spar.

"You got it!" They both made the symbol with their hands that Fubuki-sensei had shown them, and then Ino charged without a thought. She stopped, expecting to have felt impact, only to be kicked off her feet with a swift move by Annie.

"Yeah, go Annie!" shouted several students, Naruto being the loudest. He and Annie had become best friends ever since she had stood up for him about four months ago. And she didn't just help him out there.

_A week after meeting each other-_

"_Wow, Naruto, I guess I can see why you love ramen so much!" The two were eating at Ichiraku. Naruto had decided to treat Annie with some coupons he'd only friend he had, he was desperate to keep. _

"_Yeah, isn't it the greatest?" Annie nodded vigorously as Naruto slurped his ramen up. A young couple with a baby pushed aside the small curtain and sat on the stools next to Annie and Naruto. The couple ordered some ramen with extra veggies and turned to nod at them with smiles on their face when suddenly they frowned harshly at Naruto. "Demon kid…" the man muttered quietly. _

"_Oi, YOU GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?" Annie was suddenly standing on a chair, an inch away from the man's face with that same dark and poisonous look. His eyes widened. Nobody had ever gotten mad at anybody else when they made fun of the kyuubi kid….and how did she move so fast? Why did she care about that thing?_

"_What the-Annie!" Naruto yelped. She could get hurt for defending him._

"_ANSWER THE QUESTION! UNLESS YOU'RE SCARED OF A SEVEN YEAR OLD!" The man looked around. His wife had gone to feed the baby in the back, the cooks were both in the kitchen pantry, and nobody was in the streets."Go run home to your mommy, kid!" With no one to watch, he grabbed Annie by the neck of her jacket and threw her on the ground. Or at least he tried to. Annie used air manipulation and managed to land softly and feet first. The man's and Naruto's eyes grew wider still. Seven years old and manipulating air like that? The man was about to punch Annie in the face, but Naruto suddenly forgot his shock and jumped on the man's back, wrestling him to the ground._

"_DON'T- TOUCH-MY- FRIEND!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. "Naruto!" Annie screamed. The old man that ran the shop came out front and eventually broke up the fight. "I would expect better! Wrestling a poor kid to the ground! Get out of my shop!" "But he's the-" "Out!" "Keerrrrjjj…" Annie ran to Naruto and helped him up. "You okay, Naruto?" He was scratched up, but when he took Annie's hand and looked in her face, somehow he suddenly felt better then ever. "Uh…Yeah…I feel great! Annie, how did you do that?" Annie blushed and said, "The wind manipulation? I don't know, I just… did it, I guess…" She rubbed a necklace of4 little metal disks. Naruto had noticed it was a habit of hers. "Well, that was amazing! You should use those moves in combat class!" _

_End Flashback._

And she did. She had used air manipulation to jump over Ino when she charged, and then swiftly kicked her feet from under her. "Go Annie Go! Go Annie Go!" shouted Naruto over the crowd.

"Great job, Annie! You too, Ino! Now, make the end sign I taught you and go back to your spots!" said Fubuki. She had gotten over the embarrassment from months ago, not to mention the many other times Annie had become angry about the prejudice towards Naruto, and had begin to recognize the great qualities Annie had. Along with that, a few of the things Annie screamed in her face about Naruto started to affect her brain. _You Baka! You're a teacher and you should try to love and understand ALL of your students! –Naruto didn't do anything wrong! If you gave him a chance he could become better at throwing kunais but NO! You're just gonna be a bunch of brats and laugh at him and just make things ten times harder! –_-_Oh COME ON! This is getting so OLD! If you people keep putting him down he's gonna become depressed and hurt his whole life and then he will destroy the leaf village! Shut up and stop being a bunch of bakas!- –Hey, everybody should cheer on Naruto a little bit too. Maybe the reason he doesn't win all the time is because you guys are so distracting. GO NARUTO! -_Eventually, Fubuki and the majority of the class realized that Naruto wasn't so bad and he really did have delightful enthusiasm. Since Annie had become the best combat fighter in class, nobody was hard of hearing.

Okay. Yeah. The teacher has seen the light and is filled with love and Naruto is all happy. Blah, blah, blah. it's all very mushy and lovey dovey.

Now for the exciting part. Remember the mean man with a 'wife and baby' at Ichiraku? Well, the baby was a fake doll. And the wife was too. The man had grey hair in a ponytail, a young face, and nerdy circular glasses. Recognize that description? Yeah, that's right, Kabuto. He had snuck into the village on a mission for none other than *stupid evil jerkface meaner* Orochimaru. They wanted the nine tails….desperately.


	2. Wind and Water: Burning Acid

Chapter 2

Orochimaru coughed weakly as Kabuto stuck a needle of medicine in his arm.

"Time for a new container, master." He sighed. The process for it had become so dull.

"Yes, but first I want to hear your report on Konoha's kyuubi."

"Well, it seems Naruto isn't so vulnerable anymore. He's got a little friend."

"Well, that would make our plans a little more difficult."

"Mmmhmm….if he socializes, he will not come searching for our power…"

"And then I will not be able to use him as my container years from now. I will not be able to steal the kyuubi. His friend….is he his age?"

"_She _is his age, and I can't find her name on record anywhere. Annie Marufuji?"

"Interesting," Orochimaru smiled evilly, "Well, she is only a child. If she were to be an orphan then of course she wouldn't be on record. What else did you find on her?"

"She doesn't live anywhere. She literally goes and sleeps in a little cabin in the forest. She made it herself using wood jutsu. I watched her do it." Kabuto said.

"Wood jutsu? At that age? _Very_ interesting. Keep tabs on her and Naruto. Tell me how close they become and how powerful they get. "

"Should we take Annie out before she gets too strong?"

"I haven't made up my mind yet. Now, on with the container."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

**6 year time skip to the Chuunin Exam era!**

**Annie and Naruto became stronger as years went by, and Naruto ended up the same as he does in the real story, personality and strength-wise, except maybe a little smarter, due to having a study partner. He also didn't have a huge crush on Sakura, but maybe a small one. **

**He and Annie joined up with Sakura and Sasuke in Team 7. They had also accomplished in getting the bells from Kakashi the FIRST time, due to Annie's idea on working together. While Kakashi was distracted by Naruto and Sasuke, Sakura snuck behind him and tried to snatch the bells, which Kakashi stopped. While fighting all three, Annie grabbed his M-O paradise book, and threatened to read it out loud. (Naruto picked up on his weakness a lot faster; besides, the title practically screams "I-will-ruin-your-reputation-if-you-read-me-out-loud-to-children!") Yeah, Kakashi was kinda depressed he got beat by genin. But he was back to his bad-book-reading, lightning-shooting self in no time. Now team 7 was walking to be treated at Ichiraku by their sensei. **

"That was EPIC! I can't believe we got the bells from Kakashi-sensei! No thanks to _you._" Sakura said pointedly at Annie. Sakura hated her guts for some unknown reason.

"Even if I _didn't_ do anything, you don't have to be so mean about it." Annie said coolly.

"Yes I do! You left me and Sasuke-kun all alone to fend for ourselves!"

"Dissing Naruto too? He even came up with the idea to grab his book. Gull, you are _so_ annoying…" Annie mumbled, cleverly addressing the day Sakura had heard her precious Sasuke-kun call her annoying. She glared at Annie and then stared at Sasuke with big innocent eyes.

"Sasuke-kun doesn't think I'm annoying, do you?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Tch…the dobe and Annie-**Chan**did their part with getting the bells just as we did. Taking credit for them is completely annoying." Sakura pouted. Annie smiled wickedly. She didn't like Sakura at all, so that was a treat. Kakashi finally said something.

"You work together enough to get the bells, and suddenly you're fighting amongst yourselves?" He wagged his finger. "Now, what kinds of ramen do you want?"

"My usual!" Naruto shouted.

"Chicken!" Annie said.

"Umm….that one…" Sakura pointed at a low-fat diet ramen. Annie rolled her eyes. No matter how perfectly shaped Sakura was, Sasuke would never like her. Besides, low-fat ramen would just make her go anorexic.

"I'll have chicken too." Sasuke said. Sakura suddenly became angry and shoved Annie over. "Ow…what was that for?" "For liking my Sasuke-Kun!" "Just because he ordered the same ramen as me doesn't mean _I_ like him! Gull! Sakura, you only have to do that when Ino is around, okay? Sasuke is _all yours._" Annie kept a calm face and looked Sakura straight in the eyes to show Sakura she was telling the truth.

No...there was only one person that was for Annie…and she was staring at the blonde headed guy right now. He had done so much for her…little did he know that she was as lonely as he had been all those years ago. She wanted a friend, so she submitted a false form at school. She hadn't meant to go totally crazy when the teacher mistreated Naruto, it was just that she knew exactly how he felt.

Naruto then began to treat her to Ichiraku and joking around with her, and he had defended her from the crazy pony-tailed guy. The hung out all the time. They fought for each other. He cried with her, she cried with him. They shared each other's secrets and vowed never to betray them. They had grown very close over the years. Anyone could tell you who's Naruto'sFriend was.

"Chicken!" The old cook interrupted her thoughts with a shout and Sasuke raised his hand. But then Sasuke said, "Actually, ladies first…" and he handed Annie the bowl.

Annie flashed him a smile of gratefulness and slipped disposable chopsticks out of a little plastic package. "Ugh….chopsticks…." One of the weird quirks Naruto and Team 7 had found out about Annie over time was that she was a failure at chopsticks. Lately she'd been asking Naruto to help her out since it was just weird for a 12-year-old to use a spoon and fork.

"Index finger and thumb, Annie-chan. Remember? Like this…" He placed each chopstick right where they were supposed to go, touching Annie's fingers.

While doing so, Ichiraku's employee placed Naruto's bowl of ramen in front of him. Blood rushed to Annie's face. "Oi! Dobe! Your ramen's getting cold!" Sasuke snarled. Naruto smiled. "There ya go! Now eat up!" Annie turned to enjoy it, but she noticed something strange. "Naruto-kun, I didn't know you liked hot sauce so much." His ramen was bright red. Annie had been to Ichiraku with him many times and he never put in that much hot sauce. "Eh? I don't like-WOAH!" If Annie hadn't said something, he never would have seen how red the soup was before he drank it. "Hey, old man! The Naruto usual doesn't have hot sauce!"

Kakashi looked at the ramen out of curiosity. His eyes widened. "Naruto, don't eat that!" He said, completely losing his cool. Team 7 looked at him strangely, but then they saw why. That wasn't hot sauce. It was acid. And the glass bowl was melting.

"DAAAAA!" They all bolted away from it. "Naruto, you didn't touch any of that, did you?" Annie was failing at keeping her voice calm.

"Keerrjjj…I got some on my cheek…." He collapsed on the ground, shaking and screaming. He showed his face, which was peeling to the bone then rebuilding from kyuubi chakra, over and over again.

Losing a lot of blood. Pretty gross.

"Kakashi-sensei! We need a medic!" Sakura shouted on the verge of hysterics. He ran with the speed of a true ninja towards the hospital. But then something strange happened. Water floated out of Annie's hip-pack (yeah, she stills wears it) in a stream and formed a little glow around her hand. Annie placed her hand on Naruto's wound. It rebuilt once again, but it didn't peel. He began to relax, and the tears building up around his eyes dispersed. Annie flexed her fingers, and the poison floated out of the wound, burning itself out.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" He looked at her, his blue eyes blazing like nothing she had ever seen, and then he smiled his classic foxy smile and nodded. "Hai, Annie-Chan! I didn't know you were a medi…" He suddenlyfainted from the blood loss. Sakura and Sasuke just stood there, stunned from the past events.

Naruto had nearly been assassinated, Kakashi had freaked, and Annie was a medic.

A medic that used water.

For healing.

And it GLOWED.

"Orochimaru…" Annie muttered under her breathe. Why hadn't she been more careful? She knew he would attempt to capture Naruto. But why so public? And so…deadly? Annie stared intensely at Naruto's scar, which was beginning to disappear.

She suddenly heard a scream from behind her.

A thump.

A hiss.

A big white snake…

"Annie, run with Naruto! GO!" Kakashi yelled at the top of his lungs. He held off the large snake.

So she did.

She ran and ran. Faster and faster.

And then she was _flying…._


	3. Flying Thirty Miles

**Chapter 3: Thirty miles away…**

"Annie-Chan?" A familiar voice called to her, enveloped in worry.

Annie woke up to a pain her arm and in her head. Her arm was warm and sticky. _Crud….it must be bleeding…_

She opened her eyes to see Naruto tearing his jacket sleeve and wrapping it tightly around the wound. "N-Naruto-kun? Wha-" "Sssh…you got a concussion…not so fast…" He said, concentrating on tying the sleeve. In six years, Annie had never really seen him concentrate before. It was kinda cool. "Naruto, what happened? Why are we in the forest?" But then she remembered Naruto almost drinking poisoned ramen, and then._… She suddenly heard a scream from behind her. _

_A thump. _

_A hiss. _

_A big white snake…_

"_Annie, run with Naruto! Use your wind jutsu! GO!" Kakashi yelled at the top of his lungs. He held off the large snake._

_So she did._

_She ran and ran. Faster and faster. The buildings and streets flew past her and soon turned into blurs of trees._

_And then she was flying…._

She shook her head at the silly idea. Flying? Not even the strongest Wind jutsu Ninjas could do that. Wind jutsu was supposed to be thin and sharp, not flowy and detached, which was the style needed for flying. She must have just been imagining stuff. Naruto interrupted her thoughts. "That's what I was gonna ask. Last thing I remember was burning my face off. *He shivered* We are, like, thirty miles from Konoha, how did you get us that far? I think I remember you carrying me…" he questioned, scanning the foresty landscape. Annie shook her head. "I don't remember…" Thirty miles? Dang. Hello, adrenaline.

"Well, you must've crashed or something because when I woke up we were falling from a tree and you had scratched your arm pretty badly."

She punched the ground. "I wish I hadn't been so careless!" For more reasons then one. First, she had crashed into a tree…somehow…

Second, Annie had secretly been onto Orochimaru with this for months. And Naruto had been _so_ close to dying…it just made Annie want to strangle something. She _had_ to keep Naruto safe. He was her best friend!

"You weren't careless! We're thirty miles away! Nobody is going to find us anytime soon. Just relax." He stood up and gathered some sticks to set up a camp fire. Annie sat up. She winced, her arm stung. Naruto looked at her with a worried face. "I said to relax." "I know, but…Well, it's easier to talk when I'm sitting up. Don't you want to know what happened?" Naruto nodded with a goofy grin and ran to sit next to her. _One moment he's serious, the next moment hyperactive and excited once again. That's my Naruto-kun._ Annie smiled to herself.

"Okay, so what happened?"

"We were attacked by some guy and a big white snake while everyone was… _(Well, I can't tell him about my water manipulation…he might be mad that I never told him while we were training together…he only has to know about air for now…he'll freak when he figures out I was flying…)… _focused on your treatment. Kakashi and Sasuke held them off and told me to take you far away. They seemed like they were after you, Naruto." She watched as Naruto's expression grew angry. He punched a tree, and it cracked. Naruto felt frustrated that he couldn't have done anything. He was also upset that he didn't know if Kakashi-Sensei, Sasuke-teme or Sakura-Chan were okay. He was angry that someone attacked them. And, He was angry at himself for falling for such an obvious trap. Come on! The Ramen was freaking red! He was a Ninja now! He should be better! "Naruto, calm down! How long do you think we've been here?" "Long enough! We need to go back!" He adjusted his headband and got ready to sprint into the trees. "Wait-Naruto!" She grabbed his arm, "They are after you, remember? If you go back too soon, you might just put everyone in danger! _Exactly_ how long have I been out?" Naruto calmed down and thought a moment. "About two hours." Annie nodded. "Plus the time it might've taken me to fl-uh-run here with you." Naruto became exasperated. "Isn't that long enough?"

Annie smiled really big and flipped her hair back, which was a habit of hers. "My dear hyperactive, unpredictable Ninja, I think it is time we went back." And with that, She grabbed Naruto and climbed up the nearest tree with chakra in her feet. "Woah! A-Annie-Chan! How did you learn to do this?" "I asked Kakashi, and then I went to the library." She jumped to the next tree, gripping Naruto's hand tightly. "We are going to jump tree to tree. I think you can do that, right?" "Yep!" And with that, they began jumping branch to branch, mile by mile.

**To Kohona **

"I hope Annie moved pretty far with Naruto by now." Kakashi muttered. It had been a good five hours. The snake had been killed, and Kabuto was contained. Temporarily. He didn't know how much ANBU Tenzo could keep up the wood jutsu with Kabuto struggling so much. "Kakashi! I can hold him for about fifteen more minutes! That's too long to wait for facilitators! Finish him off!"

Kakashi got in his Chidori form. He dreaded what he was about to do, even though he had done it a hundred times. Electricity spurted from his hands and he was ready to let it all go, when he heard a loud CRACK.

Kabuto had broken the jutsu. He sprung from where he stood, and onto the exhausted Kakashi. Unfortunately, Kabuto was also tired and lacked complete rationalization. He didn't realize Chidori was still exploding in Kakashi's hands. It took Tenzo a second to realize this when he saw an explosion, and then two smoking bodies on the ground. His eyes grew wide. He ran to Kakashi, not forgetting to put a quick wood jutsu trap on Kabuto, just in case. Kakashi was shaking violently. Tenzo feared the worst. He pulled on insulated gloves and checked Kakashi's pulse.

Thank goodness-he still had one.

Kabuto was defeated. Kakashi was still alive, for now. And the damage their fight had made wasn't too serious. It could all be rebuilt within a week. Medics had been standing by with Sasuke-who had been injured earlier on-but now they ran to Kakashi and Tenzo. Kakashi was placed on a stretcher. While being treated by the Medics, Tenzo was soon asleep. Other Jounin and ANBU carried the unconscious Kabuto to the Facilitator's hospital.

Sasuke had woken up not long after the explosion. He was asking Sakura questions about how it ended. "You guys beat him, Sasuke-kun. All that's left is for Naruto and Annie to come home."

A ways off, back in the facility hospital, a surgeon poked Kabuto's body with a needle, in an effort to make stitches, and the body poofed into a cloud. _Shoot. It was a shadow clone._

* * *

><p>Author's note:<p>

Haha switched it up on you! :D


	4. More Trouble

**Chapter Four: More Trouble**

**Disclaimer: I own nuttin'. If I owned Naruto, Orochimaru would have been defeated by Naruto, not Sasuke! (so mad bout dat!) And Kabuto would've either died during the fight or just shut up and seen the light.**

**Kabuto: MWA HA HA I'M OBSESSED WITH MY DEAD MASTER AND IM GONNA BE JUST LIKE HIM WHEN I GROW UP! :D**

**Me: See? creepy.**

**Kabuto:... :P**

**Me: ew its a snake tounge. Did you get that from Orochimaru?**

**Kabuto: um no that's just gross.**

**Me: Well you have no problem with stealing eyeballs...**

**Kabuto: T.T I don't know what he's done with that thing! **

**Me: O.O...good point...**

* * *

><p>Annie sighed. It had been an hour and they had traveled about five miles. They needed to get to Konoha faster, or else Kakashi might get worried and send unnecessary help. Plus, some rouge Ninja or maybe Orochimaru's servants could find them. <em>I should've told him in the first place.<em>

"….Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"We need to get there faster…"

"I'm going as fast as I can Annie-Chan, and I can see you are too. Don't push yourself too hard. We still have a long way to go."

"I know, but, about how I got here so fast, while carrying you…" she rubbed her old necklace of disks nervously. Naruto looked at her, suddenly interested.

"I remembered. Actually, I knew the whole time but I thought I was just being silly so I didn't tell you," she continued.

"Tell me what?" His face looked concerned.

"My Wind Jutsu has gotten strong, Naruto, so strong that….I got here by…._flying_." Naruto looked at her, his eyes wide. "Y-you're not serious! You can _Fly? _That's so cool!" Naruto stopped on a thick branch of a tree and held Annie in front of him by her shoulders. "Can you show me?" He was jumping up and down, completely excited. Annie smiled. He was so cute when he was like that. "Yeah." She moved a few feet away from Naruto, and made speedy hand signs. Wind rushed around her, whipping her hair, and it gathered around her feet, lifting her from the ground. She leaned left and right and swooped gracefully threw the air. Naruto looked at her with big, wide eyes. Then he gave a big goofy smile.

"THAT'S SOO COOL! You could fly me to-"Naruto suddenly stopped and his smile disappeared. Annie narrowed her eyes in concern. "Naruto-Kun? What's wrong?" He then fell onto his knees, then off the branch. "Naruto!" Annie bounced off the branch and scooped the unconscious boy up just before he reached the ground. Had he been shocked from her flying? But that didn't make sense.

Kneeling next to him, she kept his head elevated with one hand, and checked his pulse in his neck with the other. While feeling his pulse, her fingers bumped into something. She pulled it out. It was a dart! She frantically tried to do what the teacher in Health Class had taught them last year, figuring out whether or not it was lethal or how long it would last if it was just a sleeping dart. After pulling the dart apart, she sighed in relief. It was a sleeper, and a weak one at that. Naruto would be awake in less then 2 minutes.

So who threw the dart, and why? Annie didn't wait to find out. She slid Naruto, then herself, under a large bush that was great for hiding. Whoever did throw it would not be friendly. And a weak dart like that meant they would strike before the 2 minutes were up. Annie became nervous and excited. She squeezed Naruto's sleep-dead hand. If it came down to it, she would protect him with her life. _No matter what, I will NOT chicken out. Not like that time… _She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to be nostalgic. Oh gull, this was the longest 2 minutes of her-

"OY! Save some of that bread for me, I'm hungry too!" Annie jumped. Two pairs of feet stepped in front of the bush, less then a meter from her face. Were they the ones that threw the dart? Did they work for Orochimaru? Were they Leaf Village?

"Shut up, those kids could be anywhere. They're leaf village Ninja, so they can be sneaky. We can't make a sound!" The other voice was down to a whisper. Annie smirked. These guys sounded like total morons.

"What does Ol' snake face want with the Jinchuuriki anyways?" The first voice was a little quieter now, but it still sounded rambunctious. Annie raised her eyebrows. Jin-chuur-iki? That's a funny name for the kyuubi.

"None of our business, I guess…The 2 minutes are almost up. In fact, the kid might already be waking up. I heard the girl had water-base healing powers. We better hurry." Annie jolted. _Oh, come on! I use it one time in public and EVERYBODY knows about it? _The hand Annie had been squeezing suddenly squeezed back. "Annie-Chan? What do they mean?" He looked at her with hidden accusation. "Nothing, Naruto-Kun! You're awake! We should go before they-" Annie was suddenly dragged by her legs out the back of the bush, and let out a piercing scream.

"_Annie!_" Naruto didn't waste a second and tore out of the bush. He tackled the closest Ninja to the ground, kunai drawn. There were two guys, and one was dressed in a black assassin outfit, the other in a white one. The White one held a saber to Annie's neck. She looked like she was trying her best not to cry. Naruto held his Kunai to the Black-clothed man's chest. "Let her go, or I'll kill you!" The dents in the Ninja's face cover made it look like the man was smirking. "On the contrary, get off me, or _she _dies. We're not like you leaf Ninja. He doesn't care enough about me to fail a mission, but he will use a hostage in my favor." Naruto looked fierce, and he only became more so when his eyes started glowing red.

"You heard 'im! Get off, kid!" the white Ninja pressed the blade closer to Annie's neck, which began to bleed a little. She winced. A few tears spilled from her face and onto the blade. Seeing his comrade cry for the first time, Naruto calmed down and got off. Yeah, that's right, first time, ever since she was six. She hated crying in public, or whenever she was around people. Naruto remembered her telling him a few years back that "_I used to cry all the time, even when I didn't know why. And now I'm empty of tears and just full of smiles!" Naruto only nodded, finding it hard to believe that anyone could just be happy for the rest of their life. "Whatever you say, Watashi no Karu…" Naruto said, claiming her as 'his light'._

"Annie-Chan…It's okay….I-I'll make sure you g- go home safely, _Watashi no karu_…." Naruto promised. His voice was shaking a little. He didn't like seeing Annie this way at all. It hurt something inside him.

"Yes, you will. Get in there, and stay in, if you want her to live." The black ninja nodded towards a big metal box with a door and air vents. Naruto looked down, defeated. He tromped towards the box.

But then Annie looked up with a big toothy smile. The saber suddenly shattered. The white Ninja looked shocked. "Ugh, I _hate _crying in public. But it had to be done, didn't it, _Watashi no_ _muso-ka_?" With no saber to threaten her, she swooped to a low stance with her left leg sticking out and her kneeling right leg taking all of her weight, she did a 360 and swept the Ninja off his feet. Annie stood up quickly and ran to Naruto before the White Ninja could get over his surprise. "Annie-Chan!" Naruto said, and hugged her. Annie hugged back. "Silly Naruto, I have nothing but smiles left in me, remember?" She said. Naruto gave her his classic foxy grin. "How did you do that?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later!" She said. They were in fighting position, and the one she had called _'my dreamer'_ was ready and raring to go. "Let's get 'em!" Naruto made clones, and Annie got out her kunai. Naruto immediately attacked the White Ninja, holding a grudge against him for attacking Annie. Annie then chased after the other Ninja.

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><p>All that was left was to defeat the two Ninjas and head home, right?<p>

Wrong. There was a red one, who had been hiding the whole time, and he used genjutsu. He made a symbol with his hands and made an illusion.

* * *

><p>Naruto hid behind a tree, sweating. That dart must've done more then knock him out. Even when he'd just woken up, he could tell something was messed up. His chakra was less then normal. WAY less then normal.<p>

This guy wasn't very good at Ninjutsu, but he had a big sword, and he was good at using it. When Naruto attacked with clones or knives, they were all deflected. With one swoop, the Black Ninja could chop a tree in half. With barely any chakra and a scary opponent, he had to figure something out, and fast.

He suddenly heard Annie's scream. "Oh no, I have to get to her! She might be-!" He heard his opponent chuckle from behind him. Naruto didn't bother to turn around and bolted to the sound of Annie's voice.

"Keep running kid, You're not gonna get there in time!" he mocked Naruto, not even bothering to chase after him. As long as his partner followed the plan, and had led Annie as far away from Naruto as possible during their battle, then all will go as planned. He wouldn't even need to chase Naruto.

Naruto heard another scream, but it was weaker. He couldn't help but panic just a little more as each second passed. _Was she okay? Was she hurt? Would he get there in ti-!_

"ANNIE!" what Naruto saw was totally insane and awful. Trees on fire, some fallen over. Shards of ice pierced the ground and some trees. The entire field was soaked with water and mud. He could see sprayed blood on the ground. Kunais were everywhere, some with blood on them. And in the midst of it all, was Annie, lifeless on the ground. "A-Annie-Chan…._Watashi no karu_…My light…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note:<strong>

**Annie: WHAT? YOU KILLED ME OFF? IN CHAPTER _FOUR_? WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THOSE PLANS WE HAD? WHAT ABOUT GAARA AND MY FAM-ALL THAT OTHER STUFF? THE SEQUEL? You can't kill off an OC so quickly! Especially when she's practically the main character!**

**Naruto: Ya RedR0se! Are you trying to break me? **

**Me: All in good time, my young padowans. Did you forget the third Ninja?**

**Annie: Oh...yeah! I'll shut up. :)**

**Me: *whispers* You better...**


	5. Is it Really Forever?

**I'm not gonna lie: This chapter is short and depressing. But it's necessary and DEFINITELY not the end. I don't own naruto!**

**_Please review!_ **

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><p><strong>Chapter Five-Was it truly forever?<strong>

The pulse was gone.

There was no breathing.

She wasn't moving.

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be….she was supposed to be invincible. She could fly!

_**He felt his rage boil. Whoever did this, would pay dearly. They would die, except slowly and more painfully then Annie did. The Nine-tails chakra churned in him and his eyes burned red with slit pupils.**_

A painful gasp of breath came from Annie. "N-Na-" She was breathing too quickly and wheezily. Naruto calmed down and let out a breath of relief. He couldn't let his rage take control while she was still alive! He had to help her. "Annie-Chan!" he whispered. He looked at her wounds, and decided the most lethal one was right next to her heart, possible piercing either that or her lungs.

He remembered what his teacher at Emergency Health class had said. _"When the wound is deep and may or may not puncture a vital organ, it is better not to pull it out unless you know more about healing. However, if it is only a flesh wound and not very deep, then carefully take out the kunai or whatever weapon was used, and put pressure on the injury before they bleed to death." _He began to panic again. There was nothing he could do!

"N-Naruto…water…" Annie wheezed out. He held her like she was a baby, and took her little sack of water she always carried around on her hip. He'd never bothered to ask why, but now he was grateful she always wore it. He held it near face. She shook her head weakly. "P-put it near my hands." He did so, but not without raising his eyebrows. She flexed her fingers, and a little stream of water flowed out and circled around her palm, faster and faster. It started to glow. Naruto gasped. No way…

Annie placed her hand her wounded hip and the glowing grew brighter. She winced. But then her breathing suddenly grew faster and even wheezier. The glowing faded and the water stopped circling, eventually failing and falling to the ground, like it was dead. Her hip was healed, but she needed to heal the vital injury near her heart.

"A-Anne-Chan! You need to heal that-" Naruto stopped, realizing that maybe she didn't have any chakra left. Annie gave a small, weak smile. "Sorry….Naruto-san…" Her eyes began to close, her breathing relaxed and faded away. Her heart was stopping. Naruto felt tears in his eyes. He even got a second chance to save her, but he had failed. What could he do? He felt he had nobody to blame but himself. Maybe he could…take her to the village and... He fell to his knees, lost in words or feelings.

_His __**Best**__ friend..._

_His __**First**__ friend…_

_His __**Only**__ friend…was gone. _

_**Forever.**_

Big hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him into a knife-to-neck position. "Found ya, kid." Naruto looked down. He and Annie had tried their best to get to the village safely, but, oh well. He had nothing waiting at home anyway. He felt tears continuing to spill down his cheeks. _Annie-Chan…Why did you have to die?_

The Black Ninja chuckled. "It worked better than I thought it would. Let's take him back."

The White Ninja brought a metal box out of the ground and he kicked Naruto in, shutting the door.

* * *

><p>Naruto: *dabs away tears* That WAS depressing. I didn't think you were so dark.<p>

Me: Are you kidding me? Have you even read half the stuff I have? Dude, the people of today scare me sometimes. I can't handle the REALLY dark stuff.

Annie: T.T you flippin killed me off...

Me: just shut up and wait for the next chapter!

Naruto: Wait, last question: Why so short?

Me: Like I said, I can't handle the dark stuff. I had to take a breather and start out fresh.

Naruto: Ah, I see now.


	6. Naruto is rescued! By a ghost?

**Chapter 6: Naruto is rescued! By…a ghost?**

He had been covered in darkness for about half an hour (even though it seemed like days), half asleep. He had grown used to the rocking feeling of being carried. He wished he was completely asleep, to be taken away from his troubles. Annie-Chan was…Watashi no karu….gone. Naruto was probably going to die soon. He wouldn't become Hokage.

In fact, even if some leaf ninja came and rescued him, he couldn't imagine becoming Hokage without Annie by his side as an advisor. She had promised to support him the whole way, and he would support her in her dream. Why should he get his dream when she couldn't get hers? She was protecting _him_ after all.

His thoughts were interrupted by an unusually sharp jolt. He clutched the smooth wall of the black box, which didn't really work. His stomach flipped as it felt like he was going upside down and then tumbled down the hill. A yelp escaped his mouth as he tried not to hit his head on the wall and get himself knocked out. He clutched his ears when he heard a metallic ripping sound and light suddenly blinded him. _So soon? Would he be killed now?_

He looked around. He didn't see the ninjas that had captured him, but he was suddenly being lifted out of the box by something. Where were the hands pulling him up? Was he being levitated? He looked at his orange jacket and saw it being stressed with holding his weight, and it looked like invisible hands were gripping the jacket. He was thrown on the ground. _Invisible hands? Saving him? Could it be? _

"A-a ghost?" Naruto paled. He _hated_ ghosts. They creeped him out way too much. He winced when he suddenly felt a pair of lips on his cheek, but then he relaxed. _"Naruto-kun, I'm okay. Not a ghost. It was all just a Genjutsu. When you wake up, go to the leaf village. It's not too far. Maybe five miles away." _She whispered sharply into his ear. Naruto did a double-take.

"_A-Anne-Chan! You need to heal that-" Naruto stopped, realizing that maybe she didn't have any chakra left. Annie gave a small, weak smile. "Sorry….Naruto-_San_…" Her eyes began to close, her breathing relaxed and faded away. Her heart was stopping. Naruto felt tears in his eyes. She went limp in his arms._

Why would Annie suddenly call him Naruto-_San_? She was never formal enough to use San at all, and she always used Kun for Naruto. Maybe…that wasn't Annie! It really wasn't real! A genjutsu! His heart skipped a beat. She was alive after all? He gave a big smile as he suddenly remembered that Annie-Chan had just kissed his cheek. His cheek tingled.

She materialized in front of him. He wanted to hug her and hold her close, never let her go. He didn't even care that she had been invisible. "Annie-!" She held her finger to his mouth. "Hush, they'll find you."

**He felt a sharp pain on his head and he blacked out.**

* * *

><p>"….he suddenly appeared. That was so weird."<p>

"I didn't know he could turn invisible. Useful and rare. Hey, has anybody else been wondering where his friend is? Wasn't she with him?"

"Based on these injuries, I'd say nowhere good. We should have come after them sooner_._"

The light bolding through his eyelids blinded Naruto. He squeezed his eyelids.

"Look, he's waking up."

"About time. His youth is a-wasting."

"It's only been about ten minutes. He could've been knocked out for days. Chill out, Gai."

Naruto opened his eyes to see a random Leaf Ninja (Tenzo), Iruka-Sensei, and Gai-Sensei. "Iruka-Sensei!" He exclaimed. Iruka looked at him with one eyebrow perched. "Naruto, you didn't tell me you could be invisible."

Naruto looked at him like he might be insane. "Whuut? I can't!" Naruto thought about it, and then he remembered. _She materialized in front of him. He wanted to hug her and hold her close, never let her go. He didn't even care that she had been invisible._

"I didn't even realize! Annie-Chan can be invisible! …..W-where is Annie-Chan?..."

He looked around, half-expecting her to pop out at any moment. He leaped to his feet. "Annie! Where are you? Come out!" The three adults looked at each other with worry.

"Hey, do you guys know where she is?" He looked at them in confusion.

"Well….we don't know. But…we might be able to figure it out what's going on if you tell us what happened to knock you out in the first place." Iruka said.

**Naruto's face darkened as he related the events of the past day. **

Iruka tried to keep his composure strong and determined for Naruto, but on the inside he wilted. He had a special place for that girl, as well as Naruto. She had been Naruto's friend when he had none, and she was not afraid to speak her mind. He smiled to himself. _Definitely_ not afraid to speak her mind.

He looked straight in Naruto's eyes. "They probably took her. Naruto, I'm sure we can track down Orochimaru's accomplices. I _know_ we can. We won't let them take Annie."

Naruto looked up with a goofy grin. "Really?

Iruka smiled mischeviously. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Mission accomplished. We got the Jinchuuriki and delivered it here smoothly." The Black Ninja took off his mask and shook out his sweaty blonde hair. "Orochimaru better give me back my daughter now. I kept up my end of the bargain, he should keep his." The white Ninja slid off his mask. It was Kabuto. "Yes, the deal was to do five tasks for Orochimaru, and you would get her back unharmed. He won't break his promise. We just need to open up this box and put him under lock and key."<p>

Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a wicked grin. The flash of his adjusted glasses seem to light up the dark hall for a second. The blonde, muscular man with rugged whiskers on his chin gripped the edge of the coffin-like black box and found the hidden button that opened the door. It creaked as it swung open. He cocked a brow. "That's weird. It didn't open right. Maybe it got beat up on the way here." He remembered the few minutes he had ticked Kabuto off because he had dropped the box with Naruto in it and it rolled down the hill with loud crashes. _"You BAKA! You're just lucky we didn't kill the kid! He could've escaped! One more mistake like that and your daughter is history!"_

He winced. Such a stupid mistake could've gotten his daughter killed…_Shikari, please be okay. Please forgive for taking so long. Please forgive me for letting you get into this in the first place. It's all going to be okay. I have the Jinchuuriki. I brought him here. They are going to release you can go home and everything will be back to the way it was. _

_Shikari…_

He looked in the box_._

Naruto wasn't there. The girl was. And she had a know-it-all smirk on her face.

"Gotcha!" she said, and jumped into the air and down the dark hall. Kabuto and the blondie got over their surprise quickly and became angry. "GET HER!" he shouted and was about to take off when Kabuto held him back. "Don't you remember the trap we set at the end?" The Black Ninja's eyes widened and he smiled. "Oh, yeah. I remember now."

Annie kept running down the hall with a big smirk. "Hehe, they should've seen their faces! Now, if I remember right, getting out of here will be a cinch!" She came to a fork in the hall. Two paths…which one was it again? She kicked herself for not remembering , even though it _had_ been at least six years.

She looked at the stonework on the wall. If this was the same hideout she had been in for two long and painful years, her five year old "artwork" had to be somewhere. She remembered that right next to the dungeon, Kabuto caught her drawing on the wall with crayons, and he gently took her to her room and handed her some paper. He scolded her for trying to draw on the walls.

When she came back to this spot the next day, she had noticed it was still there, and Kabuto had not bothered to wash it off. What Kabuto hadn't known was that she wasn't drawing a bunch of scribbles, it was a map. She didn't like it there and she wanted to go home and find her….parents...

Annie bit her lip. Her parents. She wondered what they were doing right now, or where they thought she was.

She shook her head. Now was not the time. She quickly studied the wall, blowing off dust cobwebs. It was hard to see anything in the torch-lit darkness of the dungeon hall. She ran her fingers down the stone, until she felt a waxy crayon-like substance. She smiled. They _still_ haven't washed it off. She focused her eyes on the spot the crayon was until she figured it out.

Left. She was supposed to go left. The right, then left, then left again.

She began to run down the dark hallway. She sure as heck wasn't staying here.

But then she stopped. Her mouth dropped. She suddenly wanted to turn around and run away and hide in a little corner, but her legs were frozen over with fear. It was Orochimaru.

"Little daughter, I've missed you. Where have you been all this time?"

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><p><strong>Author's Note-<strong>

**kk I know, I know, you got your questions, but I'm not saying nuthin, unless you review or PM me. You got to wait and read!**


	7. Annie's True Abilities!

**I got a review! And it made me happy and joyful and excited to write more! Thx maggie! You rule! :D**

**:O My first real fighting scenes! Be nice to me, I am not good at this!**

**I don't own NARUTO! OR ANYTHING RELATED TO IT!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7: Annie shows her true abilities!<strong>

Annie gulped. She had to get ahold of herself. "H-hey look, ol' snake-face crawled out of his hole." Making fun of him would get her excited and laughing. She could breathe easier, but her heart was still pounding. Adrenaline pumped through her veins.

Orochimaru only smiled his creepy thin smile. "My dearest prize, my precious child, you finally came back to me. I knew it was only a matter of time." She grimaced.

"I never came back to you, and I never will! YOU'RE _SICK! _You kidnapped me, and you were trying to kidnap my friend! You were trying to kill him!" Annie spat at him. This was good. She was mad. It was either freak out or become angry. As long as she remained in control, anger was _much_ better than being scared.

Orochimaru kept on smiling. "It's all in the name of science, dear daughter."

Annie glared at him poisonously. "Your science is completely unimportant compared to the lives you have hurt, and the ones you will hurt in the future if you aren't stopped. And I am NOT your daughter!"

"How do you know? How do you _really_ know?"

"Because I remember what my parents look like!" She started to smirk. "And…..I know for a fact you couldn't pick up a girl even if your life depended on it."

Orochimaru threw his head back and laughed. "You haven't changed a bit. Still a little brat who's just waiting to get caught in a trap," he smirked. "I was just going to keep you around for studying your _**abilities**_, but now I see you're just going to get in the way." He snapped his fingers, and Annie was suddenly crushed by an intense weight. _"Oof!"_ She tried to get up, but she just slipped back onto the ground.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Have fun. I need to make sure a certain Black and White Ninja get their jobs done."

She looked over her shoulder and saw a Red Ninja with her fingers folded into a genjutsu sign.

"Are you _kidding_ me? You might as well crush me with a _real_ big…metal…pillar!" She strained under it. If only she had a little more energy, she could faze right through the imaginary pillar and out the door and Orochimaru could do nothing about it! Sure, the Red Ninja could use Genjutsu, but Annie knew her way out with her eyes closed. She sighed. Fazing now might be risky, but….

"Aw, screw it." She felt fizzy for a second and then empty, as though she hadn't eaten for a week, but wasn't hungry. She stood up, fazed right through the pillar, and walked down the hall. She tried to keep the bottom of her feet solid and whole, so that she wouldn't fly through the floor. The Red Ninja seemed a little peeved that his Genjutsu failed, and he made a new one.

Annie heard silent hissing.

But then it grew louder.

And louder.

Suddenly the hissing rushed close and it seemed like a snake was right next to Annie's ear. She winced and clamped her hand onto it. But then she remembered that it was impossible for any snake to hurt her because she was in an intangible state. Besides, this was only a sound.

Annie turned around and stared at the Ninja, hoping she was looking where his eyes would be in the mask.

"You can't hurt me, but I can hurt you!" Her hands went to the flask at her hip, and she made smooth, water-like movements with her hands and arms. The water spurted out and made flexible stream in the air. Her arms guided the water from a distance until it separated into a dozen levitating pools of water. The water formed ice shards that gleamed in the firelight. Annie made a sharp, sweeping motion and the shards sped towards the Red Ninja, marking its victim. Before he could blink, he was pinned to the stone wall.

He stared at the ice penetrating the stone with horror_. So sharp…_He looked back at the girl. _She has an ice bloodline limit? It couldn't be. It's impossible. The only one left with that bloodline is an older boy that follows around a man named Zabuza, far, far away from here._

Annie smirked. She made another stream of water and made it wide and flat, and she slapped the water oval on top of the Ninja, completely covering his body, and she iced him over. "Haha!" Annie pumped her fist in victory then broke into a run down the hall.

Only a hundred more yards till the exit…

A blast of fire burned in front of her, missing Annie by inches. She fell back in surprise.

The Black Ninja came out of nowhere and swung his curved sword. Flames burned on the sword's blade.

"Wow….that looks kinda cool…." Annie said, transfixed by the flames, until the Ninja ran at her with them.

She jumped back. Flames from the sword shot past her. She smiled wickedly.

"Fire? Two can play at that game."

She jumped and pivoted closer to the Ninja, then punched an explosion of fire into his chest. His eyes widened in surprise. In his shock, she used air manipulation to slam him against the wall, then punch him with fire again. Annie then kicked the ground with her arms in a stiff form and raised a slab of earth and shifted it to the Ninja, trapping him between the wall and earth.

Annie felt really excited.

"Wow! I just kicked two guys' butts with four different elements! Training is totally worth this!" She was giddy. "I have to get out of here and tell Naruto!" She frowned_. I hope he's okay…and I hope he's not too mad at me for hiding my elemental jutsus… _

She continued to run down the hall until she heard an explosion.

She gulped. Kabuto, the Black Ninja, and the Red Ninja were all together. She remembered watching Kabuto train and work out years ago, and the memory was scary.

_**I can't stand a chance.**_

Naruto grimaced as glided through the branches of the trees. What would they do when they saw Annie had replaced him?

_Please be safe. _

_Please be okay. _

_Please be alive._

Iruka grabbed Naruto's shoulder and jerked him to a stop.

"Hey, what are you doing? We need to-"Iruka held a finger to his lips.

"I heard an explosion. It must be the hideout. Tenzo, what happened to your wood clone?"

Tenzo meddled with something in his ear. "He's been severely damaged. And…." He hesitated. "Well, spit it out!" Gai said.

Tenzo looked at Naruto. "….so has Annie."


	8. Tears of Joy

warning: dramatic shortie-pants ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 8: Tears of Joy<strong>

Naruto pulled apart the leaves of the bush and peeked into the large meadow.

He was half-expecting grass, or at least something…living. But all he saw was a big sand pit and destruction…everywhere.

He scanned the area, eyes flicking left and right, desperately.

_Where is she?_

His eyes caught something red on the ground. Blood? No. It was a Ninja, just like the black and white ones, except red. He was passed outon the ground. He kept looking. There was the black Ninja, knocked out just like the red one.

_Did Annie do this? Because if she did, that would be awesome!_

Did she get the white one too? Naruto scanned it again.

His breathe caught.

The White Ninja, beat up and probably on the verge of death, stood over Annie's body.

No, she wasn't dead. Not yet. He could see her chest rising and falling, barely.

The Ninja stood over her with a threatening-looking blue glow in his hand. He got ready to strike.

Naruto didn't waste a second.

One punch. That was all he needed.

He ran into the field and rammed into him with all his strength, and Tenzo created a wood trap jutsu on Kabuto, and Naruto scooped Annie up. He took her into a tree's shade and got a good look at her state. She had nasty bruises and a lot of scratches, her hair was a bloody mess, a piece of shrapnel stuck in her thigh, and awful burns on her forearms and left leg. But who knows what the anti-medic Kabuto did to her on the inside?

"I-Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto called, horrorstruck. He gagged at the sight of all the injuries. Iruka put his hand on his shoulder for comfort. "It's okay, Naruto. Just calm down. We need to get her to the medics as soon as possible." Gai picked up Annie and nodded towards the others to get a move on, for once without a youth speech.

"**She doesn't have much time."**

They rushed speedily through the dark trees. It was nearly sundown.

…

Annie squeezed her eyes open. Everything was blurry and bright. She saw three fuzzy brown spots and two brown-blonde spots. She blinked and focused her eyes. She was in a hospital room, lying on a bed. Five people surrounded her.

Her breathe caught in her throat.

It couldn't be!

Mom.

Dad.

Joey, her older brother.

Nicki, her little sister.

Howie, twin brother to Nicki.

She hadn't seen them in nine years. She hadn't been here in nine years. How did she come back? The answer to that question was probably as unreachable as how she left and went to Naruto's world in the first place.

Of course, to them, how long had it been? Maybe a few months?

She felt tears come to her eyes. She missed them _so_ much. She wanted to stay in the little hospital room and be with them forever.

But, it had been nine years, and she wasn't ready to leave Naruto, or her exciting life as a Ninja.

_**A-Annie-Chan! Don't l-leave me! Wake up Annie! Y-you can't go! Come back! ...please…..**_

Annie felt a pulsing in her head, and her eyes closed. She had to go back. She was needed elsewhere. She fell back asleep.

Or was she waking up?

…..

A flatline sounded on the monitor.

Naruto felt shock numb his legs and throat. It couldn't be.

No. He was dreaming. He had to be. He must've fallen asleep at his ramen bowl at Ichiraku. Maybe that red stuff in his soup was really just prank sleeping powder or something from Sasuke and he was having a horrible nightmare and he was really gonna wake up and see Annie's shining face any moment, right?

Right?

He ran to Annie's bedside and collapsed to his knees. Wrong. She was gone. _Really_ gone this time. The flatline droned in his ears, threatening to haunt him in his nightmares forever.

"_A-Annie-Chan! Don't l-leave me! Wake up Annie! Y-you can't go! Come back! ...please….."_

He called weakly, realizing it was a hopeless attempt. He stared at her peaceful face, and his hand reached and caressed her hair, almost subconsciously. Then he felt the tears he dreaded to come freely fall as he squeezed her hand and pressed it to his wet cheek.

"_Watashi…W-watashi no Karu_…wake up…."

He whimpered weakly into her sleep-dead hand.

Her hand **twitched.**

It **moved.**

A finger **rubbed his cheek** and **swept away his tears**.

"Hai, _Watashi Muso-ka_!" He looked up and saw Annie throwing her million-dollar smile, which he returned with his classic foxy grin.

* * *

><p><strong>:D happy happy joy joy! I feel wonderful! Writing Adrenaline! Now I can start a new adventure for Naruto and Annie! (with a little less angst hopefully...oh gull...I HATE drama...) I added a whole bunch of that kind of stuff mostly to confirm how much they care about each other. (and if you think well, obviously, not at all, then I'll be like well screw this popsicle stand XD loljkjk) <strong>

**Should I make another story, or just add another chapter to this one? **

***sigh* maybe I should do another adventure before I do the chuunin exams? or should I just skip to it? I think one before the chuunin exams is appropriate...just a quick little thing about how Annie and Naruto socialize with the rest of the village and what the heck was going on with her little family...**

**...maybe we'll see how Naruto takes on the whole idea of Annie using four elements and if she's gonna use lightning...**

**I OWN NARUTO CUZ I ROCK YO SOX no just kidding I don't but I still ROCK YO SOX! :)**


	9. The Truth is Spilled: Part One

**Chapter 9: The Truth is Spilled, part 1**

Annie sighed as Naruto kept on staring and staring at her, he looked away whenever she looked at him, and then when she looked away he stared again. Admittedly, she liked the attention, but after about ten minutes it was getting creepy.

"Naruto, what are you looking at?" Annie said.

"Just making sure you're holding the chopsticks right," Naruto said, looking away again. They were sitting at Ichiraku, weeks after the Orochimaru incident, slurping up some yummy ramen. Annie heard Sasuke groan at the comment next to her. She looked at him.

"What's your problem?" She said with a smile.

"Ugh, he always uses that excuse when he stares at you. He's really looking at your burns." Annie saw Sasuke's eyes slip to her bandaged arms too. She cocked an eyebrow.

"What's so interesting about them? I told you the Black Ninja used a fire jutsu." Even if she had used fire jutsu, it wouldn't have burned her. Sasuke and Naruto looked up with little blushes. Holy cow, Sasuke was blushing. Heh, Sakura would be so mad right now.

"It's just that, Annie-Chan…well…I just want them to be gone. I don't like the burns being there, hurting you. I wish I had been there to take the blow, or push you out of the way." Naruto said. Annie's mouth dropped open. She reached over and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, wow, Naruto! You are so-"

Sasuke interrupted her, "Ugh, not in public." He groaned again.

Annie turned and glared at him. "I'm just hug-" But then she saw something in Sasuke's eyes. A twinge of sadness?

A fuzzy little body suddenly jumped on her head and licked her face. She giggled.

"Akamaru!" Still giggling, Annie picked him up off her head and rubbed his belly, while the little puppy gnawed at her semi-bandaged fingers. "You are sooo cute!" Annie cooed at him. Kiba appeared next to her suddenly. "Thank you!" He said, winking. Annie smiled. Kiba was a pretty nice guy. She didn't mind seeing him. She especially didn't mind Akamaru. He was adorable!

"Hey, Kiba! What's up?" She said, throwing a big smile at him.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just doing some errands and I saw you-" he glanced at the two other boys, "-uh-and Naruto and Sasuke and came to say hi. How's team 7? Where's Sakura?" He stuttered out the questions, as though he'd just thought them up.

Annie considered the questions. "Well, Sakura is….not here…probably doing some competition with Ino. Or trying to dying her hair a normal color." She added with a mischievous giggle.

Kiba laughed out loud at her comment. Naruto laughed louder. Kiba eyed Naruto and tried to laugh even louder, and Naruto caught this tried to laugh louder than him. Annie looked at them with a cocked eyebrow. What the heck?

They continued the laughing contest until they both had sore voices and sounded completely fake.

"I….laughed louder….then you." Naruto wheezed out.

"Oh…. No…. you didn't." Kiba wheezed back.

"What….. did Annie say …that was so funny….. anyway?"

"I don't…. remember." Kiba looked at Annie to see if he had insulted her, but she was gone, and a little note was left in her place. He picked it up.

_Sorry guys,_

_Sasuke and I got tired of the little shouting competition you were having and decided to go train by ourselves. Don't lose your voices! Have fun! _;)

3_, Annie_

"She ditched us!"

Naruto ripped the paper out of Kiba's hand and read it. He looked up and grinned.

"Bet I can find Annie-Chan first."

"Bet you can't. First one gets to hang out with her."

"Hehe, okay." Naruto took off before Kiba could call Akamaru. He knew exactly where Annie was. She always went to the same secret place for training; under the waterfall. He'd followed her there before, but he never went inside the waterfall and watched her. That would've gotten him in trouble. But now, he was going too.

He saw the waterfall and stuck his head in the water. A big rock cavern was hidden underneath. It had burn patches, big rock formations, and a little stream flowed from the waterfall and into the cavern. Where was Annie?

Naruto heard a loud roar of fire. He hid underneath a rock formation that made a great hiding place. He peeked through the little crack between the overhanging earth and the ground.

There was Annie! She was punching at some dummies that, strangely, had scorch marks. Annie was kind of talking to herself.

She sighed. "I have to try that again. More fire power. Less muscle, more breath. I can't be stiff, I have to be firm." She came to the dummy, jumped into the air, slanted downwards, then grabbed it's head and used it to push herself back into the air. She landed on the ground just right, then ran to it and punched a blast of roaring fire into its chest. It burned into ashes. She wiped a bead of sweat off her forehead triumphantly. "That's more like it."

Naruto did a double take.

Fire jutsu?

He must've been imagining things.

Annie wouldn't hide that from him. She always told him everything.

He remembered something from that day, weeks ago.

_"P-put it near my hands." He did so, but not without raising his eyebrows. She flexed her fingers, and a little stream of water flowed out and circled around her palm, faster and faster. It started to glow. Naruto gasped. No way…_

_Where were the hands pulling him up? Was he being levitated? He looked at his orange jacket and saw it being stressed with holding his weight, and it looked like invisible hands were gripping the jacket._

She controlled water.

She had been invisible.

Now she had fire jutsu?

What else could she possibly-

"Phew. Can't stop now. I have to try that Earth jutsu again." She turned to two other dummies and stomped the ground with her arms bent in a stiff position. Slabs of earth slid out of the ground and skidded towards one dummy, then Annie moved again and sliced Earth in two, slamming into both dummies. She pumped her fist in victory. "YES! Aced it!"

Naruto gaped at her. No way. Earth too?

Wasn't that impossible? No ninja, not even the First Hokage, could master four elements at such a young age! Or maybe not at all!

Why did she never tell him? Did Annie not trust him? Was he not good enough to know about her jutsus? He became angry and upset. He scrambled out of the rock formation he was hiding in, making so much noise getting out, Annie heard him and turned around. She looked at him in shock. _Crap, did he see me do the Earth and Fire jutsus?_

"N-Naruto-Kun?" She looked at him innocently. To her surprise, he glared back.

"Don't even _try_ that, Annie. I thought you _trusted_ me! Why didn't you tell me about this? Even after everything we've been through?" Naruto kept glaring, and Annie glared back. When Naruto looked in her eyes, he didn't see the usual poisonous anger that came out whenever she was angry with someone. Despite her _trying_ to look angry, he could see guilt, defiance, and fear, throwing themselves across her face. She finally looked away, bit her lip, and squeezed her eyes, like tears were coming. Naruto felt a pang of guilt and tried to calm down.

"Annie-Chan, you trust me, right?"

She nodded.

"Then why didn't you tell me?" He said softly.

She suddenly fell to her knees, her hands covering her face. "I-it's a long s-st-t-tory a-an-nd I didn't w-w-want to burden you with the story a-and I knew if I told it to you, I would cry, a-and I don-n't like you seeing m-me c-cry!" She sobbed out.

Naruto kneeled next to her, and wrapped his arms around her tightly. He felt content to know Annie trusted him, and right now was probably not the best time for a sob-story, so he didn't want to hear it.

"Ssshh…..It's okay, Annie-Chan….You don't have to tell me today…. or even tomorrow…Just wait until you think it's the best time. Annie-Chan, you shouldn't be so afraid to cry!" He soothed until the last

"Heheh, I'll work on that."


	10. The Truth is Spilled: Part Two

Chapter 10: The Truth is Spilled; Part Two

"Hey, Sasuke!" Annie ran down the street towards the raven haired boy. She felt happy and light hearted. Yesterday she had told Naruto everything. A huge burden had been lifted off her.

_Flashback no Jutsu!_

_"Naruto, about my Justus...Is now a good time to tell you?"_

_"Yeah, it's a perfect time."_

_"Well...I'll start at the beginning...When Nine years ago, I was taken from my home, by a strange man with a snake tounge. His name was Orochimaru. That's the guy who tried to take you. He took me far away, across seas and over mountains. We came to his hideout that was close to the Leaf Village. He took me to a room with decent furnishing, and told me that I was safe now. He said some bad men were after me and now they wouldn't get me or my family. I knew he was lying, and it took a lot of his training and sweet talk for me to even go near him."_

_"T-training?" Naruto stuttered. She's been trained? By a bad guy?_

_"Mmmhmm. After a week of hanging around, Kabuto began to train me with kunais and fighting techniques. After a while, I got really good, and bored. So Orochimaru trained me with Justus."_

_Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So, even if you were trained by big bad guys when you were little, how did you learn four elements? Not to mention the invisibility?"_

_"Kabuto...did some "tests" on me. He said it was just like a doctor check-up, but it was totally different. He gave me some sleeping pills, and when I woke up, my skin was greenish. It all faded after an hour or so, except for this-" Annie lifted her hair and tugged the back of her shirt neck down. A bruise sat there, It was kinda shaped like a shuriken. Naruto looked at it with curiosity._

_"So, I started doing some of the jutsu forms Kabuto taught me later in training, and they actually worked! Thing is...whatever Kabuto did to me...It means __I can't use chakra__." Naruto's eyes widened. _

_"Nuh uh!" Naruto gaped._

_Annie nodded. "That's why I didn't have to do the graduation test at Ninja academy."_

_"So...these elemental Jutsus you know...aren't really Jutsus? Or they're a different kind?"_

_"I guess. Anyway, after two years of training, I began to be more daring in my explorations of the hideout. I actually went inside his secret lab that he told me specifically not to. It was...*shudder* ...horrifying. There were corpses on tables, guts in jars, and...other things. I decided that these guys were bad, and I might end up one of those corpses if I stayed around. I explored some more and found the exit, and I used my four-year-old drawing skills with a crayon to draw a map near the dungeon so that I wouldn't forget." Naruto and Annie both giggled at this. _

_"After that I slipped out when Orochimaru wasn't looking, which wasn't hard when I had invisibility and intangibility." when Naruto looked at her funny, she explained. "I can walk through stuff." His eyes widened. "Seriously?" Annie laughed. "Seriously."_

_"What else can you do?"_

_"Wood jutsu. And I'm working on a few other things, like lightning and sand and metal. I'm getting the hang of metal, but lightning keeps exploding in my face. Promise you'll wait until the Chunnin exams before we tell Kakashi-Sensei and the rest of the world?"_

_"Why?"_

_"Well, it would be too...weird. If there's an emergency, I'm willing to spill it, but before then, people might hunt me down or expect a lot out of me. It was tough enough being the top fighter in the class, and that's nothin'. Plus, who knows what the ANBU will do when they figure out I was trained by Orochimaru?"_

_Naruto nodded. "Alright, my lips are sealed, Annie-Chan. I promise. Oh, and Annie-Chan?"_

_"hm?"_

_"Do you have visions too?"_

_"No, why?" She looked at him strangely._

_"I remembered that thing you said to Sasuke, about vengeance being bad and he was gonna end up destroying the Leaf? What was that all about?"_

_"I-uh-read up on Orochimaru's psychological studies. Sasuke was one of his targets and-well-he was totally falling in his trap with his revenge-thing. Orochimaru uses revenge and power-hunger to get his science victims. It's all very intense." She rolled her eyes. Revenge. So dumb. Orochimaru had taken her from her family, but she didn't stay up at night planning his death. She winced. Floods of memories poured in. Where were they? Where was she? _

_"Annie-Chan? Thanks for telling me everything..." Naruto interrupted her thoughts. She smiled at him._

_"No problem, Naruto-Kun. Thank you for listening."_

Annie smiled as the flashback faded. She looked back at Sasuke.

He stood next to Ino's flower shop. "Watcha doing?" Annie flashed one of her million dollars smiles. Sasuke turned around with his hands in his pockets, a blank look on his face. When he saw it was Annie, a light lit up in his eyes and his face held a trace of a smile. "Um-nothing..." he muttered.

Annie flicked her eyes between the flower shop and Sasuke. "I know! Are you getting flowers for Sakura? Don't worry, it'll be our little secret!" She said in a teasing voice. He rolled his eyes. "Pfft, heck no. I was just...uh... getting some to...errrmmm...brighten up my place. But since Ino's in there, I decided against it." He looked away. Annie paid no attention to his face and considered this.

"Well...I could go get them for you, if you tell me what kind you want and stuff."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "NO! I mean...I don't want to trouble you with that. I can handle it myself."

Annie waved it off. "Nonsense. Those girls are crazy, 'specially Ino and Sakura. Now, what kind?

Sasuke looked away again. "A Canterbury bell , a daffodil, and...a r-red tulip." He mumbled. Annie smiled.

"Okay!" She bounced into the store, totally oblivious. Sasuke sighed in relief. Thank heavens she didn't know the meanings of flowers. As long as Ino didn't spill it...

"Hmm...A _red _tulip, hmm? Would these flowers happen to be for Naruto?" Ino said with a smirk.

Annie blushed a little. "Why would you think that?"

"Everyone knows you two have are _so_ meant for each other. And, by everyone, I mean me." Ino smiled knowingly.

Annie composed herself with a sarcastic smile. "_Wow_, Ino. Naruto and I are just friends. _Best_ friends, I mean. These flowers are just to brighten up my bedroom. What's so special about the tulip? It matches my bed sheets," she lied.

Ino rolled her eyes. "Well, they're _supposed_ to mean a confession of love, the Canterbury Bell means gratitude, and the daffodil means respect, but _apparently_-"

"Bye Ino! Have fun with your matchmaking!" Annie yelled over her shoulder as she ran out the door with the flowers. She didn't really want to hear Ino go on and on about _whatever_.

"Here you go, Sasuke." She said. He looked away as he took them from her. Annie noticed that he seemed to have a habit of that. "Th-thank you, Annie-Chan.

From a distance, Naruto saw Sasuke holding flowers and standing next to Annie. An anger mark popped out of his head and he ran to them. "SASUKE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" First training, now Annie?

Annie looked at him with a cocked eyebrow. "Naruto, relax. He just bought some from the store, probably for Sakura-Chan!" Annie added with a wink. Naruto relaxed and laughed, while an anger mark popped on Sasuke's face. "It's not for Sakura or Ino or anyone like that."

Naruto smiled. "_Anyone_ like that, eh? Who then?" He teased. Sasuke glared at him.

"Shut up, if you know what's good for you, dobe."

"Make me, teme!" Naruto glared back. Lightning bolts practically shot out of their eyes. Annie laughed at their rivalry.

"Stop it, you knuckleheads. Save that stuff for training." She teased, then walked away, leaving them to their fun. She wasn't a block away when she heard Naruto shout 'SASUKE!' again. She giggled. A little rivalry ought to do them both good.

* * *

><p>Later that night, after a long day of hanging out with her friends, Annie tugged on her nightgown and collapsed onto her bed. She turned over and was blinded by the light she had forgotten to turn off. "Ugh...if I ever control lightning...That lightbulb is goin' <em>down<em>..." She smirked as she pushed herself off of her bed.

While snapping off the light, a fist rapped at her door, then she heard running footsteps in the hall. She narrowed her eyes. "Who the heck..." She opened the door. Nobody was there. She looked down.

Annie gasped.

Three flowers, tied together in a bow with a little white ribbon.

The purple Canterbury...

_Gratitude... _

The yellow Daffodil...

_Respect..._

And last, but not least, the Red Tulip.

_a Confession of Love!_

Annie swallowed as she picked up the flowers. "Thank you!" She whispered, just in case _he_ was still there.

_Sasuke..._


	11. The Forest of Death: Annie Style!

**I do NOT own Naruto! Repeat: Do NOT own it! This is a free fanfiction rewritten with an OC! You will probably get some serious Dejavu from this particular chapter!**

**Chapter 11: Annie in The Forest of Death**

"_The forest of death? Oh, gull. Does the name have to be SO dramatic?" _Annie remembered muttering that her under her breath naively before they had signed up for this. _Before we had run into, like, a bazillion fake Naruto's (can you say predicable?) a bunch of random Ninjas after our Heaven scroll, and poison. Ok, so maybe the poison wouldn't have been a problem if Naruto wasn't so stu-I mean forgetful sometimes._

"If the three of us gets separated, don't trust them even if he looks like one of us. There is a possibility that an enemy could transform into one of us and try to infiltrate us," Sasuke said with his usual seriousness. Team 7 crouched on a small grassy clearing in the middle of a thick jungle-like forest.

"So, what should we do?" Sakura asked.

"Let's decide on a password." Sasuke replied.

Annie cocked her eyebrows. "Do we have to have a password? How about we just ask personal questions whenever we aren't sure about each other? Like….our favorite colors?" She glanced at Naruto.

"Ok…so maybe not the color question. How about questions about the first things we did together as team 7? Like when Naruto did that silly prank on Kakashi?"

Sasuke glared at her. "Hmm…nice idea…" He glanced around. "I like the password better. After all, someone else from Ninja Academy might know the answers. Anyway, I have an idea for one."

Annie humphed, but she, Naruto, and Sakura nodded.

"If a different password is given, assume no matter what that they are the enemy. Got it?"

"Got it!"

"I'm only going to say it once, so listen carefully. First you will ask, the ninja song, 'Ninki'? The answer is…It is a good chance when a number of Ninja's are making a scene. There are no hideouts even in a quiet place. It is important for a Ninja to know the right time. The time is when the enemy is tired, and has his guard down."

Sakura nodded. "Okay."

Naruto squinted. "Aiii….could you say that again?" Sasuke shook his head. Annie held her head in her hands. "Aw, maann…I am so gonna get killed….I don't think I got it…but if all else fails, I'm using a personal question!" she stuck her tongue out in nobody's general direction.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Morons…. I memorized it perfectly!" It took all of Annie's strength not to pummel her to pieces right then and there.

"hmm? I remembered it perfectly too! I just wanted to be sure!" Naruto shouted stubbornly.

"I'll keep the scroll." Sasuke stood up and walked away.

"Hey, wait, Sasuke!-ow!-huh?" Naruto rubbed his cheek in pain. Annie looked at him in concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Something just flew out of nowhere…." He looked suspiciously at a dark, tree-hovered area.

The wind practically exploded in their face. It didn't give any warning, it just started to blow. In fact, Annie found it hard to stay on her feet. The dark area had become like a wind tunnel. They covered their eyes, for fear of a leaf or some sharp object shooting by and blinding them. Sasuke shouted something unintelligible over the roaring gust. _This wind won't help anything! _Annie thought. She took her hands away from her face and made some wide, airy movements with her arms, and she made a calm bubble of air around them.

"Great job, Annie-Chan!" Naruto said. The wind outside them picked up even more, and began to tear through. She strained to keep it up, but failed. Then, suddenly there was an explosion of dust.

When it cleared, three men stood a distance away. "You two go have fun somewhere else. Leave them to me." The middle one said. Annie squinted her eyes to see who it was, but she couldn't see under the bamboo sunhat. Something about him, or her, was familiar. Naruto grabbed her hand and they hid underneath a bush in the trees, not wanting to find out who it was. Sasuke and Sakura took off somewhere.

Annie felt a little dizzy from having the wind blow her off her feet, then getting tugged away and stuffed into a bush.

"Whew." Naruto sighed. "You okay, Annie-Chan?" He didn't feel dizzy, just a little mad that Sasuke had ditched them. He left the bush, and looked around. "Where did they go?" he wondered aloud. Annie stayed in the bush a little longer, not trusting her legs to hold her weight at the moment.

"Hey An-" He saw a huge dark shadow appear over him. He looked up, not really wanting to know what was above him.

Annie swallowed. "A h-huge snake!" Crap! That figure she'd seen, could it be? Who else had a snake the size of a building?

The snake hissed. She rolled out of the bush in shock. It was decided.

She decided she _hated_ snakes. And chopsticks. They both have absolutely no point in life except to humiliate her.

The snake darted at Naruto, who darted easily. Annie got up. She had to defend Naruto. But Naruto shouted to her, "Go to Sasuke and Sakura! They're probably in more trouble then I am!"

Annie wanted to shake her head and attack the snake anyway, but she realized he was right.

That person may be attacking them right now!

And if it was who she thought it was-!

She nodded and took off as Naruto darted another head butt from the snake.

….

Annie found Sasuke and Sakura, and saw it was too late. There that man was, taking out the earth scroll and using his long snake-tongue to swallow it- wait, what the heck?

"Why did you swallow the scroll?" Sakura squealed out of her throat.

"Hmm….Lets begin…..the fight for the scrolls….by putting our lives on the line!" He looked at the two with a wild look in his eye.

"Aw man, that's just gross! I mean, there's all that slobber and ick!" Annie shouted. The three heads turned in her general direction. Aw man, she was supposed to have the element of surprise! Why did she have to say anything? Oh, well.

She jumped out of the trees and onto the branch the others stood on.

Annie attempted to stare down the man in green. He had normal, non-pale skin, a nose, and normal eyes. It couldn't be Orochimaru. But then she eyed the purple belt thing he had around his waist. She widened her eyes.

The man looked at her amusedly. "Hmm…I didn't expect to see you here….my child."

Sasuke and Sakura held shocked faces. They slowly turned to stare at her. Annie paled as she tried to ignore the stares. It _was _him.

"W-why would they let _you_ in here! You're an S-rank rogue!" Annie shouted, hoping desperately her voice wouldn't crack. The answer was obvious. He had disguised himself as just another weirdo Ninja.

"Hmm…and I thought I was lucky to find both the Uchiha and the Kyuubi on one team, but my creation too? It's like a little package of goodies!" He said with his slimy yet smooth voice.

"C-creation….?" Sasuke mumbled out of shock.

Annie glared at him. "You messed me up, but I am _not_ your creation, you freak!"

He chuckled darkly. "Ripe as ever. I guess I can take you back home now…" He stared at the other two and held his eyelids farther apart with his fingers. A visual jutsu.

Sasuke and Sakura gasped and began to scream for no apparent reason. They just stood there, with dropped mouths. Annie looked at them.

"What the?" Then She remembered what happened whenever Orochimaru had done that to her when she was training with him. She saw images of her death flashing before her eyes, and every single time, she wasn't able to do anything about it. Eventually the jutsu wouldn't work. It was meant to paralyze them with fear.

She grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and shook them.

"WAKE UP!" She shouted at the top of her lungs, which was pretty dang loud. It didn't work.

She grabbed one of her kunai in her back pocket and made a slit across his face, then Sakura's. They both winced and placed their hands on their face. "RUN!" She screamed. Annie grabbed their hands and ran away. That was how she had done it to get out of the trance, before it wouldn't work. Pain: who knew it could be useful?

Yeah, it was pretty emo.

As they ran, Annie heard a hiss behind them. Shoot, she'd made snake-face mad. She hid under a low-hanging mossy branch and looked at Sakura and Sasuke with concern.

"You okay?"

She gulped. "Okay? Your little friend just tried to-"

"_He. Is. NOT. My. friend!" _Annie spat_. _Sakura raised her hands as though to say, 'don't shoot!'.

"We're fine, Annie-Chan." Sasuke said, sneaking a warm smile at her. Annie hid a blush. Was it wrong to like it when Sasuke called her that, as well as Naruto-Kun? Sakura scrunched her nose in confusion. Did Sasuke just smile at Annie?

"B-but….how are we going to run? H-he's so…." Sakura mumbled.

Annie bit her lip. "I-I don't know. We have to get out of here as quickly as possible. She glanced at her friends, noticing that Sasuke had his Sharingan activated. He looked completely frightened, just like Sakura. Jeez, that visual jutsu really did a number on people. The memory she had of the horror she had been through must have ebbed.

They heard a rustle of leaves and grass. They froze. "S-Sas-!" Sakura cried, but he clamped his hand over his mouth. They listened. It was way too quiet outside. _Way _too quiet_. _

Sakura began to scream in Sasuke's hand again. Annie glared at her, practically screaming,_ 'SHUT UP!'_ with her eyes. But then she looked where Sakura had been.

"Sasuke! A giant sna-!" She shouted.  
>It attacked before she could say her last words.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Annie: YOU BETTER NOT TRY TO KILL ME OFF AGAIN!<strong>

**Me: I should totally do it just to tick you off! haha! except then it would be redundant. I just barely had you "die" a two chapters ago. Don't worry.**

**Annie: :P I don't trust you.**

**Me: You don't have a choice. And, besides, that's just weird, since I stole about half of your personality from myself.**

**Annie: You WHAT?**

**Me: Haha no. I am way too shy for that. Your teachers may like you when they finally see your golden heart, but my teachers call me a saint. **

**Annie: *coughcoughsuckupcough***

**Me: I don't TRY to be. And if you keep up that attitude i CAN and WILL use your weakness.**

**Annie: Weakness? How do you know-*whispers in her ear* NO! NOT THAT! YOU WOULDN'T!**

**Me: I _would_! I may be shy at school, but on paper I can be even more fiery then you!**

**Annie: O.O...crap...**


	12. Why is it ALWAYS snakes?

**Chapter 12- Why is it ALWAYS snakes?**

Annie watched next to Sakura as the snake shot it's head at Sasuke, who had ran in the opposite direction as them. Sasuke stared into the eyes of the snake as he jumped and dodged backwards. He suddenly panicked and recklessly threw ten kunais at the snake.

"_Don't get near me!" _He screamed. The snake screeched in pain then collapsed, curled onto a branch. Blood seeped out of its head and they knew it was dead. Sasuke stopped and landed on a tree, panting, crimson pupils dilated.

Annie bit her lip. He was still afraid! "Sasuke, get a HOLD of yourself!" She shouted, hundreds of feet away. He ignored her and kept staring at the snake corpse. His eyes became saucers and his mouth dropped.

The snake skin was cracking, and something started to sprout out of it.

Annie remembered this jutsu when she trained with Orochimaru, and she had to attack while he was still vulnerable and unseeing. She charged.

"ANNIE! No-!" Sasuke started.

Much to their shock, Annie threw ice shards at Orochimaru's back, then Kunais.

He saw it coming and twisted around, slithering across the branch, only stabbed by one Kunai.

"Ice?" Sakura gasped.

Annie rolled her eyes. _Really? A guy just turned into half a snake and she's worried about my ice?_

"Hmm….the Uchiha wouldn't let his guard down for even a second…Prey need to strain their minds and run around all the time…in the presence of a predator." Annie crinkled her nose in disgust at all of the slime that he was covered in. Orochimaru flicked his long, gross snake tongue at Sasuke. Orochimaru bolted around a tree branch towards Sasuke. Annie couldn't move fast enough to save him. "Sasuke!"

Just before Orochimaru reached him, seven kunais shot between them. Annie looked where they seemed to come from. "Naruto! You're okay!" He stood on a branch high above them, a brilliant smile on his face.

"Sorry, Sasuke." All other faces turned to the voice.

"The password…I forgot it." Naruto smirked. Annie chuckled.

"Naruto, get out of here! He's way above our level!" Sasuke shouted. Naruto ignored him. He stared at the snake-like man. Annie bit her lip. Maybe he was right. Orochimaru was way above their level. She knew it personally.

"Looks like you defeated that big snake, Naruto-Kun." Orochimaru teased. Annie felt a sudden impulse to smack that grin off his face. "You child-stealing stupid son of a monkey!" She hurdled at him in a fit of rage, but Sakura grabbed her and held her back. Naruto looked at her funny. _Child-stealing? Could it be..?_

"Annie….Is that Orochimaru? The guy who…!" Annie nodded hastily. Naruto glared death at Orochimaru. "You-!" Sasuke interrupted his rant.

"Wait." He said with a demanding voice. All eyes turned to him as he reached into the little pack and took out the Heaven Scroll. Annie's eyes widened. He couldn't be that desperate-?

"I'll give you the scroll. Please, take this and leave this in peace."

"WHAT? No!" Annie shouted. "Are you crazy? He doesn't even care about the scrolls! He'll get rid of us anyway!"

"I see. You're smart." Orochimaru smirked. "Sometimes the only hope a prey has left, is to hand over something else to save itself."

Sasuke ignored her. To Annie's horror, he tossed the scroll at Orochimaru.

There was a blur of orange, and the scroll was gone. Annie looked at the place where the orange had settled. "Great job, Naruto!" She ran to him, knowing that because of his act of defiance, either Sasuke or Orochimaru would attack. (She also felt safer closer to him.) She stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed his face contorted in rage. "YOU ARE NOT THE REAL SASUKE!" he charged at him, and gave him a good punch in the gut. Sasuke was launched ten feet away. He was dazed for a moment, then wiped spit from his cheek.

"N-Naruto….you idiot! Of course I am! You don't understand the situation!"

"No! The Sasuke I know wouldn't give up! He would stand up and try to win for sure! YOU don't understand the situation! We don't know if he won't take the scroll and kill us anyway!" He looked at him fiercely.

"Naruto-Kun…You're correct. " Orochimaru licked his lips. Annie shifted her feet nervously. _Stay AWAY from us! _She screamed in her head.

"I just have to.." he lifted his sleeve to reveal a tattoo, "kill all of you to take the scroll…" He bit his finger and slid blood down the sealing tattoo. Naruto charged recklessly. "DON'T MESS WITH US!"

"Naruto! No!"

He jumped into the air and drew his kunai. Orochimaru made symbols with his hand and wind rushed around him, and Naruto became unbalanced with surprise. A giant summoned snake sprang into the air and nose-dived into the ground. Next thing Annie knew, Naruto was kneeling a thick branch, breathing heavily, and Orochimaru was mumbling something to him that Annie couldn't hear from on top of the large re-summoned snake.

The snake flickered it's tongue teasingly as Orochimaru issued an unheard command. The end of it's tail lashed out and crashed into the branch, snapping it in half. It flicked its tail again and snapped Naruto fifty feet into the air.

"Naruto!" Sasuke and Sakura called. He smacked into a tree and fell into unconsciousness.

He fell….and fell…

Annie sprang into action. Just a few feet before Naruto reached the snake's flickering tongue, she snatched him away.

"Oh my gosh…Naruto, you okay?" She said as she placed him on a branch. His eyes snapped open, blazing red with a slitted pupil. She jumped.

"N-nah-ah-!" She squealed, and then came to realization. "The kyuubi!" _Not good!_

"Lemme go!" he squirmed away from Annie's grasp and leaped toward the snake. He attacked the snake with ferocity and power Annie had certainly never seen.

"He's gone berserk!" Sakura shouted. "But….why is he so strong?"

"Hmm...how interesting…he can control the kyuubi in times of rage and desperation." Orochimaru studied him like he was a science project behind a cage. Naruto jumped towards him, but Orochimaru made a symbol with his hands and blew fire into Naruto. Naruto fell and smacked into tree branch, unconscious.

"Very interesting. Now, Sasuke-kun, how will you fight?" He stood on top of the large snake, and it sprinted his way. Time seemed to slow down.

Sasuke didn't move.

It seemed for the longest time, the snake was getting closer.

He was frozen.

"Sasuke-Kun!" Annie was too far away to help. But then she heard a defiant shout, and the snake stopped.

What had happened?

Annie wanted to jump to a closer branch to get a better look, but her feet refused to move. Then she heard something, and it answered her questions.

"Hey…are you hurt….scaredy-cat?" a strangled voice echoed around the trees. She remembered that that was what Sasuke had called him on one of their first missions.

Naruto had stopped that _whole_ snake?

She rejected her fear of seeing what had happened and hopped a few branches closer.

Sasuke STILL hadn't moved!

But Naruto shakily held the snake back with kunais in each hand, piercing the snake skin.

Annie felt her cheeks turn pink with rage. "Sasuke…you baka…you have to defend yourself…" she muttered.

Naruto was probably saying about the same thing.

She just had to take her anger out on somebody. Oh, how convenient, Orochimaru, the guy who stole her away from her family, was standing about thirty feet away.

She took out her kunais and burned them with fire the same way that black ninja-or was it the red one?- had months ago. She ignored Sakura's gasp.

She hurled the fiery knives at him, burned him, and jumped onto the dead-ish snake, forcing Orochimaru into up-close-and-personal combat. She knew from training with him that his long-range techniques weren't any good this way. "Annie-Chan!" Orochimaru smirked. "It's been a long time since we trained. Much too long."

"Shut up!" She shouted in his face. Her close range forced him to take out his kunais. They clashed together. Sakura watched them fight, frightened to get too close to either of them. The way they fought, one jutsu after another, it was like watching well-coordinated dancing. It seemed like they'd done it a thousand times. Sasuke and Naruto were watching too, entranced by their grace.

Bloody, violent, snake-tongued grace.

Until Orochimaru suddenly stepped out of line. He stuck out his tongue and it shot away from Annie, towards Naruto. Annie made an attempt to cut it off, but Orochimaru smacked her with brute strength and sent her flying into a tree. Weak from the fight, not to mention everything else from that day, she could barely get back up. Naruto was lifted away from the ground, totally helpless.

"What the-? Let me go! Let me go, you stupid snake!"

Orochimaru lifted Naruto's shirt and exposed a sealing symbol on his stomach. "N-Naruto…"Annie looked at him, too weak to do much else. She realized Sakura or Sasuke could help. "SASUKE! GET YOUR BUTT INTO GEAR AND-!" She had started out strong but shouting made her wince in pain. "h-help him…" She saw what Orochimaru was going to do. He thrust his hand forward and five little purple flames appeared on each finger.

"FIVE PRONGED SEAL!" Orochimaru pressed his hand onto Naruto's seal. But instead of the pained, boy-like shout he expected, he heard a girlish cry. He looked up in surprise.

Annie had taken the seal. She collapsed, darkness blurring her vision. As it covered her, she wondered, _What in the world just got sealed from me?_


	13. The End of the Forest of Death

"Naruto? Do you think you can get some water?" Sakura handed him a water bottle, and he nodded and walked towards the stream without a word. She watched him walk away with concern. He'd just woken up an hour ago from the fight with Orochimaru. He had really gotten upset when he saw that Annie hadn't woken up yet.

That whole incident with Annie taking a seal for him, doing who-knows-what to her body, and then Naruto totally losing it and just about beating Orochimaru to a pulp was on everyone's mind. Sasuke looked quiet and indifferent as usual, but team 7 had been together just enough that they could tell he was concerned. Sakura tried not to worry about it, or any of the other weird things that had happened during that fight, or when Sasuke had defended her with some really weird power against some Sound Ninjas that day. She just focused keeping Annie alive, or coming up with a plan to get an earth scroll. Or at least tried to. Ironically, Naruto's unusual silence was making it really hard to focus.

Annie made a sound. Sakura looked at her face, hoping for a sign of consciousness.

Her hope deflated when she remained motionless. Naruto stumbled back into the cave with water. He handed her the bottle, but Sakura just pushed it back.

"You should give some to Annie. Her throat is really dry." She watched Naruto sit down and gently lift Annie's head, then cradle her torso and arms in his arms. It was sweet and almost made Sakura want to cry because of how troubled he must have been about this whole mess. She left the shallow cave to give him a little privacy.

_Sigh….I wish Sasuke would look at me like that…Speaking of Sasuke, where did he go?_

Sakura found the raven-haired boy standing next to the stream. He stared down at it, completely motionless. Sakura couldn't see his expression because of his hair surrounding his head. Why was he just standing there?

A few drops fell from his concealed face.

Was he crying? …..Why?

Sakura reasoned it could've been the stress of the mission, or maybe because he accused himself for Annie's pain. Maybe he remembered that fight with the Sound Ninjas, where he'd suddenly become super powerful and scary, and he got scared.

It could've gone any way. But really, the big reason for his tears seemed a mystery to her.

Sasuke could see Sakura watching him, observing him. He didn't care. There were a thousand excuses he could blame his crying on later, reasonable ones too. But his tears were actually tears of frustration. He was frustrated that he wasn't the one holding Annie, feeding her water. He was frustrated that Naruto had the advantage of a good first impression, friendliness, and being old friends. He was mad at himself for not fighting and chickening out, when he could've made himself a hero to Annie. He could've taken that seal instead of her!

He subconsciously rubbed the bruise Orochimaru had given him on his neck. Man, that thing hurt.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Annie woke up, Naruto was sleeping on the ground next to her. Her last thoughts she'd had burst through her mind, and made her kind of dizzy for a moment. When she got ahold of herself, she sat up and became quietly grateful that the seal hadn't killed her. She giggled at Naruto drooling on the ground, noting that she should tease him with it the next time he was in a clowny mood. She knew he would be embarrassed if Sasuke bothered him about it, so she took out a little napkin from her pocket _(__**Kleenex**__, the only tissue that can survive ninjas and giant snakes.) _and wiped the spit off his face. She got off the ground and started to dust off her pants, but realized it was pointless because her whole body was a disaster anyway. Her clothes were torn, bloody, and sweaty. Grime covered her face and her hair was oily and filthy. Dusting her pants? Pfft, please.

She heard a sniff from a distance. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sakura staring at her and Naruto.

"Cute hair." Annie said. Sakura had cute it to her shoulders sometime when she was sleeping. She looked cuter and more efficient-looking that way.

Sakura's sad, solemn expression suddenly turned into a cheery one.

"Awww….Annie! You and Naruto are so cute!" Sakura clapped her hands together. Annie smiled back, cut did not refrain her sarcasm when she said, "Oh, yeah, lemme tell you… We're only best friends! Nothing like that has ever-"

She smirked. "Oh, Annie. Simple, clueless Annie. Since when do best friends, or even best _girl_ friends, wipe drool off each other's face? Seriously. I can't even see a girl doing that for her boyfriend. You guys are…..something special." For a moment, jealousy seemed to flicker on her face.

_Well…If she thinks that way, I guess she won't yell at me when I'm around Sasuke anymore…_

It wasn't just for that reason that Annie felt pleased. For a while, she actually had been looking at Naruto the way only a girlfriend, or wannabe girlfriend, would. It was a little embarrassing, but when Ino or Sakura had acknowledged them, she felt a little excited.

A little happier.

But if you searched deep down, she probably felt a little dread too. Dread that would become real if Naruto and her were to…ehh…get any closer, and then she would suddenly be able to return home. Then she would have to leave all of that behind…

"Uh, hello? You didn't hang up, did you?" Sakura waved her hands in front of Annie's face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just thinking."

"About Naruto?" Sakura grinned.

"Yup. I think I do like him." Annie didn't bother to make her words fancy or sarcastic, so broad worked too. Sakura just stood there for a moment, stunned. It was actually pretty funny.

"I-uh-that's cool. So-"

"How about we get girly about it after the exam?" Annie made a sarcastic smile and lifted one eyebrow.

Sakura nodded her head hastily. "Right! How about you go wake up Naruto, and I'll get Sasuke-" -she purposefully omitted the fact that he was crying-"and we'll come up with a plan to get the Earth Scroll."

. . . . . . . . . . .

_**Naruto rejoiced and hugged Annie when he woke up, of course. Naruto, Annie, Sakura, and Sasuke ran into a nice-looking older boy named Sakaharo (instead of Kabuto, after all, Annie would have recognized him immediately) and they helped one-another for the rest of the Forest of Death trial. They managed to get the Heaven Scroll before the five days were up. Now, they were at the meeting, where they were about to announce the third part of the Chuunin Exams.**_

**. . . . . . . . . . **

Annie stood and waited, tapping her foot impatiently. She wanted to sit down on the ground, but it would be disrespectful to….well, to someone. It wasn't like anybody was talking or watching them. The adults were whispering nervously about thirty feet away from the whole group.

"Maybe it's about the Orochimaru thing." She whispered to her group. They seemed to agree.

For about the billionth time, Sasuke made an ill face and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Sasuke-Kun? Can I see that?" Sakura tentatively reached towards the collar of his shirt, but Sasuke winced and snapped, "No! I'm fine!" He rubbed it again.

Annie subconsciously rubbed her shoulder. It had been feeling strange ever since she woke up, just like it had about eight or nine years ago. That was when she had gotten that weird Sharingan-shaped bruise on her shoulder from Orochimaru. She used to rub it out of habit, but she soon fell out of it when she found her necklace. Her necklace. The one her mom had given her. And now, Sasuke was probably going to get that irritating habit.

Wait…What if….?

"Sasuke-Kun, Let me see that." She said it so forcefully that Sasuke didn't say no. Sakura looked a little put off. Annie kind of relished that.

She tugged on his collar, revealing a Sharingan-shaped bruise. Sasuke felt Annie's searching, slender fingers freeze. "Well?" He prodded.

"I-uh…" Sasuke could visualize Annie biting her lip. After a few moments she spoke again. "Sasuke, sometimes I really hate it when I'm right."

"Right about what?"

Annie was shaking, with tears or fear Sasuke couldn't tell. "….This is bad. This is really, really bad. Orochimaru m-marked you. He'll…He'll mess you up if you don't get medical attention or something."

"But I can't get medical attention. I would have to-"

"Yeah, I know. You would have to quit the Chuunin Exams. But Sasuke, this puts your life in danger. Please! Drop out!"

An inattentive-looking adult suddenly called for their attention. He explained that the next test would not involve teams, and it was going to be a one-on-one battle for each of us. He then said that we could choose to drop out now if we felt we could not go on with this. No one raised their hand. Who would? After all, they had gotten this far. They couldn't stop now.

But they weren't marked.

"Annie, how could this little bruise put my life in danger?" Sasuke whispered sharply.

"That's not just a bruise, dang it! You shouldn't fight! You'll hurt yourself and other people!"

"That's kind of what happens in fights, isn't it?"

"Nothing too irreversible! But you can't say the same about that mark. Sasuke, you just don't know!"

Sakura suddenly chimed in. "Annie is right, Sasuke."

Sasuke gave a defeated look. His hand wavered. Would he raise it and surrender the Chuunin exams?

Heck no. He was going to prove to Annie that he could do it. He could fight with this mark, and it wouldn't affect his mind or strength in any way. He put it back at his side.

"No one? Okay, then. Let's move on." He continued to speak about random details of the battles that Annie paid no attention to. She focused mostly on glaring knives into Sasuke's back.

_Grrr….that butt! He's going to get himself killed! Well, next time he wants advice; he won't get any from me! I can't believe-well…I guess he is a Ninja…and Naruto would probably do the same thing…Which is probably the exact reason why he chose to stay! Darn them! Darn them both!_

Sasuke risked a glance at Annie, and smiled when he turned back around.

She was so cute when she was mad.


	14. a Giggle Then a Gasp

**Okay, I'm skipping the next part of the exam (There's nothing interesting about it. Annie beats a random Sound Ninja easily, and Naruto beats Kiba the same way. Oh, and Annie breaks her arm.) I'm just going to the first day of the 30-day break between the third and fourth part of the Chuunin Exam.**

"_So, Annie?" Ino and Sakura sat at a little table across from Annie outside the Flower Shop. They had curious, gossipy looks on their faces. Annie felt a little uncomfortable because of how they were staring at her so hungrily._

"_You like Naruto? As in like like him? Since when?" Annie felt a part of her regret telling Sakura she liked Naruto, since they were paying so much attention to her. Another part of her kinda liked the attention._

"_Well…I don't know…I guess I knew I liked him around the time we became part of Team 7."_

"_Ooh! That long? When were you planning on telling him?"_

"_Uhh…well, I never really thought about that. I was hoping…maybe…Oh, I don't know!" The blonde and the pink haired girls squealed. Annie rolled her eyes. If I live through this…the Chuunin Exams will be a snap…_

"_Ain't she just a classic?" Sakura smiled with McDonald's eyes. _

"_So…why do you like him? After all, there's a whole bunch of cute guys here that might like you back. I can think of at least two." Ino twirled her hair._

_Annie blinked. Two? She could only think of one, Sasuke _

"_Well…He's really positive. He always has a cute smile on his face. And he always says positive, goofy things that make me laugh."_

_Ino and Sakura looked at each other and giggled. Annie rolled her eyes again. She could've said something about his blue sapphire eyes, or about how he would do anything for her, but his smile was good enough for these guys. Sigh…What a weird way to spend your first day of training!_

**The last day of the month-long break!**

Naruto's jaw dropped. He couldn't speak.

His legs and chest numbed with cold fear.

This guy, Gaara, was just like him. He had a monster trapped inside him too. Except, Naruto had found friends and a purpose, while Gaara had stayed lonely… until he found a horrible purpose.

To kill. And kill, and kill, and kill, until there was no one left.

Could he have ended up this way too?

Then he remembered something from before…

_Flashback no jutsu!_

"_These are the opponents you will be facing in the last part of the Chuunin exams are listed on this chart." The Jounin said. All of the genin gathered closely to see their opponent's name. Annie and Naruto pushed up to the front and scanned the paper before being shoved back._

"_Who do you have, Naruto-Kun?" She asked, her voice shaking in excitement._

"_I have Neji. He looked really strong out there, with Hinata. I'm kinda nervous." He shifted foot to foot._

"_Oh, gull. He is so-o-o stuck up! You'll beat him so fast and so hard even your head will spin!" Annie cheered. Naruto blushed a bit. Hinata and Kiba strolled over to the two, fiddling nervously. They had worried looks on their faces. _

"_Hi, Kiba! Hinata!" Naruto said, ignorant as ever to their faces. Annie's compliment was probably still rolling around his mind._

_Annie cocked her eyebrow. "What's up? No hard feelings for not going to the next part of the chunnin exam, right?" Kiba raised his hands as though to say 'don't shoot!" _

"_No, no! That's not it at all! It's just…Annie, your opponent…"_

_Annie nodded solemnly. "He beat Lee. He seems really strong."_

_Naruto gaped at Annie. She had to fight _**him?** _Gaara?_ _ But that would mean-_

"_I guess I have to go _**all out**_ this time." She winked at Naruto. Kiba blinked._

"_All out? As though you didn't do that in the ring when you fought with that Sound Ninja?" He nodded towards her broken arm in a sling. _

"_I was holding back! Hmph…" She huffed. Being the only long-term injured person, besides Lee, who had been deathly injured, she couldn't help but feel kind of pathetic. She knew that couldn't be true, based on the fact that the guy she fought was strong and he didn't last five minutes in the arena. _

End Flashback!

Naruto gasped. This boy, this kid who killed for a purpose in life, was going to fight Annie tomorrow. How could she live through it, let alone beat him? He was a killing machine, with a demon inside him!

He felt himself shaking. Shikamaru, who stood next to him, looked at him with worry. Naruto? Shivering with fear? After his performance with Kiba a month ago, to some people it seemed impossible.

Something personal was going on.

Suddenly two huge waterfalls of sand rose from the ground, and pointed directly at Shikamaru.

"Uh, Naruto! Naruto, wake up! Let's get out of here!" Shikamaru yelled urgently.

He just stood there, and the sharp sand drilled toward them.

The sand was suddenly whisked to the side. Mite Gai stood there, his arm cast to his right as though it had thrown the sand.

"Save that for the tournament." He said fiercely. Naruto and Shikamaru gulped and made for the door as fast as they could.

Particularly Naruto.

_I can't let Annie…I just can't…Not against him…and with a weak arm on top of that…_

He ran out of the hospital, not even bothering to conceal himself as he pushed passed nurses calling out to him and out the doors.

He sprinted through the people, on top of the buildings, and around the trees, towards the waterfall where Annie always secretly trained underneath.

Annie was deep in concentration. Even the thundering waterfall seemed to fade away. She pointed her right index and middle finger stiffly at the dummy. She had been working all month on lightning attacks. Lightning spurtzed from her fingers and bolted towards the dummy. Annie released a little too much energy all at once and the poor dummy exploded into a billion pieces. _Ha, I bet Kakashi couldn't do that with a half healed arm! Although…I don't really want to kill my opponent, just stun them._

Ugh. How hard was it to ask for a nice, clean explosion?

Maybe after the tournament, Kakashi-Sensei could give her a few pointers.

She almost winced at the idea of the tournament. If she had to fight Gaara, then Annie knew she really would have to use the secret jutsus she'd been hiding since she was a little kid.

In front of _everyone!_

"ANNIE-CHAN!" Annie whirled around in surprise as her hyperactive friend pounced behind her.

"Aah! Oh, it's you, Naruto! You really have to-"

"_Annie, I don't want you to go to the tournament tomorrow!"_

She blinked. "What?"

"I said, I don't want you to go to the tournament. I don't want you to fight Gaara."

Annie felt a little angry and surprised. He couldn't tell her what to do. But, she tried to remain calm, after all, Naruto was probably just trying to do what he thought was best for her.

"Why?"

"I saw Gaara at the hospital. He was trying to assassinate Lee."

Annie's eyes were like saucers. "What? Why would he do that? He already beat him!"

Naruto explained what Gaara had said.

"Sh-Shukaku? He has a demon inside of him, just like….?" She glanced away.

Naruto nodded slowly. He had confided in Annie about the Kyuubi not long after he found out, so she knew.

"Well…that's going to be interesting…" She said almost passively. Naruto looked at her in shock.

"What? That's all?_ Interesting? _It'sabout as _interesting_ as your dead body flying across the stadium!"

Annie grimaced at the nasty image. "Naruto, did you forget that I can control five elements, fly, be invisible, and walk through solid objects? I think I can handle Gaara." _Control anger. Control anger. Control anger. _

Naruto looked concerned. "I know, I know….I just-I don't want-I mean-aargh!"

Annie's anger dissipated. She fought back a girly smile, but it slipped out.

"Aaww…Naruto! That's sooo sweet!" She giggled. Naruto only frowned.

"Annie, I'm being serious!" He must've been serious, he didn't add Chan to her name.

She became more solemn. "You want me to be safe. But if I run away, then I will only be seen as a coward! Besides, somebody has to stand up to Gaara. I want to tell him what's what!" She said with a mischievous gleam in her eye. Naruto smiled.

"Hmm….Maybe you're right Annie-Chan!" He beamed.

She smirked. "So….I heard you ended up in the hospital because of a huge, pipe-smoking toad? How did that go?"

**Naruto and Annie continued to laugh and giggle the rest of the day at his crazy stories of Jiraiya the Ero-Sennin. They nearly forgot the tension that would arrive the next day.**


	15. Gaara Versus Annie

Chapter 14: Gaara versus Annie

Naruto, powered with red, powerful-looking chakra charged at the flustered looking Neji. They clashed. There was an explosion of dust, and Naruto and Neji flew backwards. Annie was literally hanging on to the edge of her seat. Her voice was sore from cheering Naruto on, but she still didn't stop. Finally, Neji and Naruto clashed again, harder and stronger then ever before.

The entire stadium held their breath. This would decide it. Who would win, and who would fall.

Annie gulped and bit her lip.

_Please be okay! Please be awake! Please, Please, __PLEASE!_

The dust cleared.

Her heart fell.

Neji was still standing.

Naruto had fallen.

How could he have lost?

Sakura, standing next to her at the top of the stadium, frowned sadly. She muttered something like, "I thought he would win…"

Annie refused to believe it was over. "Th-the fight's not over yet. H-he can still get up." She didn't want Naruto to wake up in the hospital to find out he was defeated. Annie knew it would hurt him really bad.

She watched Neji limp over to Naruto and stand over him triumphantly. Annie stared at the scene, leaning so far over the balcony's metal bar that Sakura feared she would fall. Annie noticed that Neji's mouth was moving, his inaudible voice getting louder every second, and his words were reaching the climax-

BAM!

Neji was suddenly on the ground; Naruto was standing over him with a raised fist, and the Naruto that was lying on the ground poofed into a cloud.

The whole audience was stunned into silence. Annie had been shocked, but she came to her senses and started cheering seconds before the rest of the audience did.

"GO NARUTO!" She sprinted down the stairs of the stadium, and it only took seconds for her to reach the bottom. For a moment she watched Naruto break a HUGE smile and ran around, blowing kisses and waving. Annie swung herself over the metal bar and ran into the arena. It was probably against the rules, but she didn't care. She couldn't resist pulling the happy, spastic Naruto into a hug.

"_Great job, Watashi No Muso-Ka!"_ She whispered into his ear. They shared their moment.

At first she ignored the "_Awww!" _that the audience made, but when they left the arena and were finally unseen by the audience, Annie was blushing furiously.

"Heh…Sorry, Naruto-Kun. I kinda…ruined your moment." She looked down. Naruto smiled brightly. "No, Annie-Chan! You made it better!" Annie felt cheered and returned his bright smile.

"**The next battle will be Annie Marufuji versus Gaara, the Demon of the Sand! Five minutes!" **the announcer said. Annie's hand flew to her chain washer necklace in her nervousness.

Naruto smiled like a fox. "When you're done with him, you'll have your own super-cool nick-name!"

Annie smirked. _I wonder_ _what kind of weird nick name I'd get…five elements, intangibility, invisibility, flying…these guys would __**have**__ to get creative. _

"Gaara's goin' down!" She pumped her fist enthusiastically and Naruto cheered with a laugh.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Annie tensed. There was Gaara, twenty, maybe thirty feet away. He looked ready, but didn't move. His brown robe-like outfit was windswept, and his thick red hair fluttered over his stony, expressionless face. Annie crouched down and cracked her knuckles as though she was ready to pounce, mostly for effect. She listened to the watchers in the stadium. They were completely silent, and waited for one of them to make their first move. After two more seconds of the quiet, boiling tension, Annie decided to go first. She flipped back her hair in determination as she decided her first move.

Too bad Gaara decided first.

He swiftly raised his hand and the sand in the big jar on his back emerged and flew towards her. Annie remained unfazed and waited until the last second to dodge the waterfalls of sand. She charged toward Gaara and used a wind jutsu to swiftly dodge the sand attacks. Now that she was much closer to Gaara, she pulled out her water whip. Annie stretched and widened the stream, then forced it to stay in the air as she separated it into at least twenty pieces of ice. She made sharp movements with her arms and the ice shards flew towards Gaara.

She bit back a curse. _Gaara has that absolute defense! Ice shards won't work!_

She was right, and a wave of sand was thrown over Gaara, blocking each shard, and then swung it around to slap Annie, who floated over it.

_If I could just find a weakness…_

She dodged Gaara's attacks swiftly, gliding back and forth across the arena, jumping over occasional low cascades of sand, all the while focused on his body.

_He has so many emotional weaknesses, I can tell already, what with the people making fun of him all the time, or being afraid. Where are his parents? Were they kind to him?_

His sand formed sharp drills. She knew from watching him fight Lee that the sand was full of metal and it was really sharp and strong. She looked for a place to dodge, but found she was in a corner. _ Crap!_ The sand drilled closer. She looked back at Gaara, clear across the arena. A slight, devilish smile was crossing his face, and Annie mentally cursed at herself for taunting him into smiling at her death. For what seemed like hours, the sand drew closer.

It was inches from her face.

Until finally it drew back sharply, then struck.

Annie was suddenly flying, _soaring_, over the arena wall, somersaulting higher and higher, to the other side of the stadium. To everyone's surprise, instead of landing neatly, she slanted her body towards Gaara, who couldn't protect himself with his sand on the other side of the field, and balance her body on his head with her hands for a moment, then pushed herself back into the air, then in one graceful move landed on her feet and punched a burning rage of fire into his face.

Gaara flew backwards, shocked from the sudden fire move and the pain. Annie was about to feel giddy with joy that her favorite fire move was so successful, on _Gaara_ no less, until she heard the gasping whispers of the people in the stadium. Her dread from the past month was revealed, but on the other hand, she kind of liked the attention. _"Look what she did….Fire?...Water?...Air?..she couldn't have done ice…only thirteen…the only ice bloodline left died last year...flew into the air…WHAT THE HECK?"_ She figured the freak-outs were from her classmates, specifically Kiba.

_Focus, Annie! _She told herself. Gaara was back on his feet, a crack beginning to form on his face. Annie winced at the sight. But she got herself together, after all, the cracks were a weakness, but she had to be careful. Annie just had to aim for the head and knock him out before Shukaku had a chance to screw it up.

**Of course she didn't know that when Gaara is asleep, that's when Shukaku comes out strongest. D:**

Gaara seemed to only work when he's steady, close to the ground. When he's unbalanced, it's harder for him to control sand. Annie understood this from watching him and from practicing Earth "Jutsus" herself. Sand was close to earth, it was still stubborn, yet it was airy and flexible. In fact…

Annie smiled. If she could do earth and air, then maybe as a last resort, she could defend herself from sand _with_ sand.

That would be a _real _audience killer.

Gaara looked insane. He swept his sand towards her feet, and it chased her as she dodged. She ran around the arena, occasionally surprising Gaara with ice shards in the face, increasing the crumbling of his body.

She grimaced. _Eww…_

She dared to land on the ground for a moment, stomping it hard. _This ground is tough, padded in. I have to shake it up a little before using Earth. _

Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough before the sand grabbed her feet and swallowed her up completely. Gaara's insane smile increased until his pupils were tiny and blood-shot. He was taken by Shukaku, which only meant his raw power and cruel ferocity were to increase.

As the sand around Annie tightened, Naruto watched in the top part of the stadium with the other exam occupants. He, just as Annie had been, leaned as far as he could over the bar, hoping and praying for Annie's safety. Annie had been hoping for him to win before, but that was only Naruto and Neji. Neji wasn't completely heartless, and he didn't have a monster inside of him. All Naruto wanted was for Annie to _live._

"Come on, Come on…Annie…please break out!" He whispered in a strain. Shikamaru heard his worried muttering, and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto shivered, as though he had forgotten what human contact felt like. He hadbeen _really_ focused on the fight.

The whole crowd became silent as a minute passed, and yet Annie didn't break out, nor did Gaara close his fist to completely crush her. He was planning on torturing Annie to death with suffocation, instead of an quick (albeit completely painful) crushing death.

The referee\judge of the exam suddenly became alarmed and was about to blow the whistle to stop the fight, when suddenly, Gaara let out a strange shriek of pain and collapsed. The referee and the rest of the stadium stared at him in astonishment. But their answer, or more questions, became clear when Annie faded into view out of nowhere. They began to cheer loudly.

Naruto smiled in relief. But it was too soon, the fight wasn't over yet.

Gaara wasn't awake anymore. Shukaku was taking over, showing one demon body part at a time.

And he didn't need an audience.


	16. Hey Look, More Drama

Annie cursed out loud. Yeah, not the best way to handle her situation, but it just slipped out. Gaara was growing a huge, beige, skunk-like tail and ginormous raccoon ears. There's something to curse about.

She knew Shukaku wouldn't like keeping an audience for long. She glanced at them for a moment, and noticed there actually wasn't much of an audience left. Even the judge had gone. They had left in fear that the Demon would hurt them. Annie knew she had to lead Shukaku out of here, in order to protect the remains of the watchers. Naruto was up there, still cheering her on.

Gaara….or Shukaku roared in ferocity and used his huge hand to crush Annie into the ground. He had such speed that Annie didn't completely dodge it. Her head hit the ground hard, and her right leg and arm were crushed under the weight and strength of his giant beige claws. She screamed in pain, and was helpless as his other arm grew as huge as the other and prepared to crush her other side. Her arm and leg must've been broken, whenever she attempted to move them, not only did she fail, but it hurt like heck.

_Oh well, that arm was already partially broken._

Shukaku smiled nastily as he torturously lowered his arm closer to Annie's uncrushed arm. Annie squirmed, trying to get out, but to no avail.

She got an idea, and felt the pulsing power of fire in her veins. She focused her energy on her right, broken hand, which was probably a little risky, but she _was_ about to get crushed by a ginormous raccoon hand. Her hand scorched the raccoon skin, but because it was so close to her, she burned herself as well. She smelled burnt hair, yuck, and increased her firepower when the raccoon hardly winced. Fire was soon exploding out from under the giant hand, and it took Annie's all not to burn her face.

Her hand was blaring with pain, and tears rolled down her face, and it only was a matter of time before Shukaku finally winced and pulled up his hand to look at the damage, just long enough for Annie to roll away. She limped\air jutsed herself across the arena before stumbling to the ground.

Annie whipped out the water from her hip-pack with one hand, and curved the glowing water around her broken leg and burnt, broken arm. Shukaku wouldn't give her a moment. He charged at her awkwardly with his half-bulky body parts. Annie rolled out of the way. Sweat poured down her face as she kept rolling, floating, and hopping around the arena, dodging Gaara's blows. Finally, her leg and arm were healed enough to move.

Annie kicked a long slab of Earth into the air, and kicked it once again at Shukaku's feet. The Earth smashed into him and crumbled into a thousand pieces, but it didn't knock him over. It hadn't effected him at all.

_Oh, well_. Annie decided. The Earth had meant to unbalance him while she got in her lightning stance. Her right index and middle fingers pointed at half-Shukaku-half-Gaara, with the rest of her body stiff and immovable. She breathed in and out.

In and out. In and out.

Finally, after the pressure in her fingers was built up, she let it go in a bolt of lightning. She felt completely under control of the powerful bolt of energy, and it was probably one of the biggest ones she had yet summoned. Shukaku screeched in pain, and fell to his knees.

It must have been awkward to fall to his knees. One of them was tiny, and the other one was HUGE and furry.

For a moment, while she released the bolt, she looked in Gaara's eyes. They had a crazy look, but one of them (the one _without_ a demon raccoon ear and beige lumpy skin) had a look of fear.

Gaara was scared. And it wasn't of Annie. Oh no.

He was scared of the Demon.

Just like Naruto.

When she compared him to Naruto, her bolt ceased. Her legs walked towards Gaara, disobeying her brains orders. _What am I doing? STOP! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!_

She picked up Gaara by his collar. Shukaku had been shaken out of him, and it left only his stony face. Annie looked at him. His eyes were wide with shock.

"Gaara?" She said. He just looked at her, unable to answer. "You're afraid of Shukaku, aren't you?"

He still didn't answer, but his expression confirmed it. Annie put him down, but his legs wobbled over and he just sat. Annie kneeled on her knees and looked at him with strong compassion.

"Gaara, I understand. After all, I just had to fight that big jerk. He's nothing like you. You are in control. You have red, _cute_ hair," She stroked her hand through it. "You have baby-like skin and beautiful blue eyes. Now Shukaku, he's just ugly. And he is really mean and out of control. See, you guys are totally different! He's been messing up your whole life, hasn't he? My friend, Naruto, he used to have that same pain. But he found friends, and now he seems okay." Annie let sympathy pour through her eyes. She wondered if anyone had complemented Gaara's hair before. It _was_ cute.

Ugh. Mushy complements….

Gaara seemed totally confused. Why was she complementing him? No one ever did that! He was the scary demon of the sand! Nobody ever spoke to him so tenderly! No one…not since…

"We're both horrible, bloodthirsty mons-" Gaara started. But Annie's finger was on his lips.

"You can change that, can't you?" She tried to smile again, but her eyes rolled back into her head, and her energy she had to use that day came back to bite her. Lightning was almost a double-ended sword with as much energy as it used. She fell forward, right into Gaara's chest, asleep.

Gaara was in a complete state of shock. Annie had fallen unconscious.

The judge and the rest of the audience had come back slowly after the lightning had bolted Shukaku out of commission. They didn't have the slightest idea what Annie was saying Gaara, but they knew from her expression that they were **words of kindness**.


	17. The Interruption

"…And then you were like BAM! KABANG! And burned him all up! And the judge was all dramatic and waited forever before he FINALLY said you WON!" Naruto hyperactively threw his hands in the air, waving them around to emphasize every word.

Annie was laughing hard on her hospital bed. She clutched the bars on one side of the bed to keep herself from falling off. Naruto's version of the fight was so completely different and crazy that she just couldn't stop the giggles. Or maybe it was just because she was so relieved that the tense fight was over _and_ she had lived _and_ she had won.

As soon as she had a chance, she would leave the infirmary and watch Sasuke's fight. Heck, she didn't even know who he was fighting. What kind of friend was she?

When she asked Naruto this, Naruto only said that she had been injured, and Sasuke was probably totally okay right now. He also said that he didn't want Annie moving around yet.

Annie then replied hotly that she'd had a good two hours of sleep and could probably fight a whole other person easily, let alone walk. Their conversation led to Annie sneaking in the back door to the stadium, and not using invisibility on Naruto's insistence.

When they walked in, that disaster had already struck.

Kakashi, Gai, and a few other Jounin Ninjas were jumping across seats, throwing Kunais at other ninjas that had symbols of the Hidden in the Mist and the Hidden in the Sand villages. All of the people in the stadium were sleeping except them. The arena had exploded open, leaving a big hole exposing the outside world. Annie narrowed her eyes. What the heck?

A hand covered her mouth and Naruto's, muffling their screams.

"Hush! It's me!" A sharp, girly voice whispered into their ear. Annie relaxed when she saw pink hair out of the corner of her hair.

Sakura pulled them both down to their knees, hiding behind the seats.

"What's going on, Sakura?" Annie breathed as quietly as she could.

"There's been some sort of set-up! I don't understand! A whole bunch of ninjas are ambushing our village. Gaara and Sasuke made a big hole in the arena and they're fighting in the forest! Oohh!" Sakura seemed worried out of her mind.

"Gaara? But Annie just kicked his butt." Naruto questioned.

"Yeah. I'd guess he couldn't accept defeat, but I think his brother and sister from the Sand Village seemed a part of it too!" Sakura ran her hand through her hair.

"And Sasuke?" Annie fumbled with her necklace. Could Gaara's eruption be her fault? Was Sasuke hurt?

"H-he's going after him. Oh, gosh, what should we do? He'll get hurt!" Sakura pursed her lips in a pouty way, as though begging the wind would bring him back.

Annie remembered Orochimaru's bruise on Sasuke's shoulder. She almost cursed under her breath. "We find him, that's what." She flipped back her hair confidently. Sakura and Naruto returned the confidence with half-smiles. Sakura nodded towards a –ah– _new_ exit so to speak. They stealthily crawled towards the small, seemingly random hole in the wall.

Annie winced as a bit of tired muscle in her calf flexed sorely. As much as she tried to cover it, Naruto noticed it immediately.

"'Fight a whole other person', eh? _Oh no, you don't_, Annie. You stay in the infirmary." He pulled her back. Annie turned around and looked him in the eye in a sitting position.

"I'm fine. I can-" She was interrupted by a sudden kiss on the cheek.

"You did the same for me, Annie-Chan. Please let me return the favor from all that time ago."

Annie touched the little spark Naruto had left on her cheek. _Did he just…? _

"Na-gah-mmnaahh…." She stuttered out. A blush rose up to her crazy smiling cheeks. Naruto just about smiled in satisfaction that he had reduced Annie to a spluttering, albeit cute, mess. Sakura was surprised by the sudden kiss, but she smiled and resisted the urge to scream it to the world.

At least not until after the ambush.

Naruto commanded Annie to hide in the infirmary, and she just nodded and crawled in the opposite direction that they had left. They met Shikamaru, and Kakashi gave them one of his tracker dogs to help them, and they took off into the dark, mysterious forest.

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

It took Annie about ten minutes of hearing war cries and screams of pain outside the infirmary tent she hid in to realize what she was doing.

"Naruto thinks he can just kiss me on the cheek _(He kissed me back! He kissed me back!) _and call it good, does he? Oh, he's _so_ in trouble after this. Why, when I'm done with him-" She heard an explosion. It was too close. It might have been a few yards from the tent.

She slid herself under the hospital bed. It was a good thing she was the only one inside he tent, she wouldn't have to worry about anyone else. Another scream, but she swore the voice was familiar. Could it be one of her friends?

The same terrified voice.

_Resist, Annie. You're too weak right. You __**promised**_.

Could that be the yelp of a small child?

"Agh, Screw this!" She slipped out of the hospital bed and into the dusty field outside of the stadium. Sure enough, there was a child. She was about four, and a cruel-looking ninja dressed head to toe in black grabbed her and threw the squealing little girl over his shoulders.

Annie didn't spare a moment. She whipped out her water whip and literally lassoed the unsuspecting ninja. _Cool. I've never tried this before. _Annie thought.

She jerked him backwards and snatched the little girl away from him. She had stopped crying from the surprise of the jerk, but now she got over the shock and started to squirm out of Annie's arms, crying for her mother.

Annie held her firmly and spoke gently. "You want to go back to your mommy, sweetie?" She turned the girl around and looked her in the eyes. She gave a small, slow nod.

"Then hold on tight and I'll bring you right to her, okay?" The little girl easily trusted her and burrowed her face into Annie's shoulder.


	18. A New Issue: Where's Annie?

Annie scanned the disastrous scene before her. The Hokage's tower, along with many other buildings, were on fire or damaged. Bodies of both the enemy and Konoha were thrown everywhere.

_That's where I'll start. Some might still be alive._

She jumped onto a roof, where a Leaf Ninja was groaning in pain. She healed him quickly, and asked him if he knew of any other hurt ninjas.

"Everywhere. Hurry!" He stuttered out.

She flew around the city, literally, avoiding attacks and jumping from ninja to ninja, healing the leaf ninjas and defeating the rest.

_Maybe I should go to the Hokage Mountains….be the defense for the citizens…Where that little girl is…_

… _I hope Naruto is okay…_

She jerked to a stop after hearing a cry. Annie's eye caught a crazed ninja gaining up on a woman with a baby with a drawn kunai. She didn't bother to check the headband to see if it was a leaf Ninja or not, no person should hurt a baby. ()

She tackled him recklessly to the ground. Then turned him over and slapped his face harshly.

"_A baby? _A BABY?" She shouted in his face. She then pulled out her water and iced him over, making the shocked look on his face permanent.

Before the woman could shower her with gratitude, Annie was gone, listening for another scared or pained cry, searching for the next injured individual.

A kunai suddenly hurtled past, inches away from her face. "WOAH!-" a surprised cry struggled out of her mouth. She fell out of the sky in fright, and landed on the roof below with a nasty _**crack.**_

She felt her head after hearing the awful, loud sound, and wasn't entirely surprised to find it wet and warm.

"Dang…" Annie tried to heal it, but the process was slow. He head started to pound, her eyes blurred. Redness covered her hands as she tried to heal and pressurize it. The fatigue from her fight with Gaara suddenly lapped over her exhaustion from healing and finishing off the ninjas. She hadn't even noticed that she was completely out in the open, and weak.

A rough, leather covered hand grabbed her arm and tossed her body over their shoulder. She could hardly fight it while in a daze. Her healing finally finished, Annie's hand dropped from her head and released the spinning water in her bag, weak from the sudden blood loss. "Ugh…No…" She mumbled, trying her best to protest.

She blacked out.

**A Day Later…**

Everyone's heart throbbed.

Either from the dark rain or tears of devastation, everyone's eyes were rimmed red.

Everyone had lost someone close to them in the battle.

The Hokage had been killed as well. To some, like Naruto, he was that close person lost in battle.

For him, it was also another reason to hate Orochimaru.

He felt tears closing in on him, but he held back as he left the funeral for all of those lost in the attack. He had something more important to do.

Naruto had not seen Annie since he left her in the stadium the day before. He cursed at himself for not going to see her while he was resting after kicking Gaara's butt, she must have been so worried!

Then a terrible thought blossomed in his mind.

Annie never just sits back and stays out of a fight. _Never!_

She probably fought with them. What if she got hurt? What if-

She was hurt enough to not go to the Hokage's funeral. And he had seen some pretty beat up people there.

Naruto took off, a blur to Sakura and Sasuke, who had been watching his horrified expressions with growing concern.

The hospital was crowded with injured people, with scurrying nurses poking through the mass.

He adjusted his headband with determination. He _had_ to make sure Annie was okay.

A stressed-looking nurse popped in front of his face. "Uzumaki Naruto! H-how can I help you?"

"I'm looking for Annie-Chan!" He replied.

"Annie….Marufuji?" She guessed.

"Is there any other?" Naruto stressed the point with emphatic hand gestures.

"I suppose not. I'm sorry, Naruto, we haven't seen her today."

Naruto did a double take. "W-what? How could she not be here? She wasn't at the funeral…"

The nurse suddenly looked solemn and sympathetic. "Naruto, nobody has seen her since the attack. Kakashi came in this morning for her, too. I'm afraid…" Naruto swallowed.

"I'm afraid that she may have been at the funeral, but on the other end, unbeknownst to her friends and family."

Naruto stared at her, taking in what she said. It took him a few moments to figure out the backhand of her statement.

"What? No! She's stronger than that! She survived Gaara! She-"

The nurse placed her hand on his shoulder. "I said "may", didn't I? Nobody has seen her body, she may be in that little cabin of hers out in the forest. But, Naruto, I'm afraid there have been too many times I have said that to a patient's friend or family and it turned out for the worse."

Naruto swallowed the half-hope down, nodded a hasty good-bye, and didn't waste a second leaving the hospital. Kakashi might know what happened. Maybe Ero-Sennin could help. Somebody had to know…


	19. Finding His Karu

**Chapter 19**

"Annie-Chan?"

The echo of the knock eerily rebounded about the empty cabin. Naruto pushed aside the creaking wood door alongside rusty jambs with extreme caution. He had never been inside Annie's log cabin, and had always wondered what kind of things she kept inside. Traps? Weapons? _Girly diaries?_

As he scanned the one roomed home, he was almost disappointed to see nothing but a simple, unmade bed and a lamp table with the picture of Team 7, a scroll, and her four ringed necklace on top. He looked at the picture with warm emotions of familiarity. There was Sasuke, dispassionate as ever, looking at Annie and Naruto with a strangely fierce look. Sakura was in the front making a cute smile and a peace sign. Naruto was looking up at Annie with a happy, curious expression, and Annie was behind Naruto with her arms wrapped around his neck while jumping into the air. Her smile was carefree and ecstatic, making Naruto easily see her as the highlight of the picture.

He suddenly remembered why he was in the cabin in the first place. Realizing his search of it was in vain, he started for the door.

_Wait a minute..._

He looked back at the table.

_Her necklace?_

_Didn't she wear that to the tournament? ...Of course she did! I remember her rubbing it nervously just before! What's it doing here? _

He dangled the metal necklace between his fingers. He had never actually held the thing before.In fact, he had never seen it without actually being on Annie. This day was just full of surprises. He looked at the beige scroll with new-found curiosity. He gently put down the necklace and picked up the scroll, uncurling it as he went.

_Naruto,_

_Yeah, I didn't exactly stay behind. I did my best, but I eventually had to fight back. I hope you understand. I got beat, but don't worry, I'm totally fine, just...in bad circumstances. I escaped just in time to write this, and I hope that you're not badly hurt from chasing Gaara. Anyway, the ninja is going to find me any minute now. He's so fast. I can't escape him. I don't know who "he" is. I don't think he's going to kill me. He could have done that a while ago. But something's definitely up. I hope you find this._

_, Annie_

Naruto was suddenly very confused. Why would a ninja chase her down that way? And since when was any ninja faster then Annie? After all, she always used her mysterious wind "Jutsus", particularly in a fit of danger. Could it be a sand ninja, taking revenge for Gaara's defeat? No, none of the sand seemed to care for Gaara that much. And what was this ninja planning on doing to Annie?

Suddenly angry with this mystery ninja for even _touching_ Annie and her necklace, he dashed out of the cabin in a rush of wind. In his blind fury, he accidently knocked ran into a passing Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Watch it, Naru-!" Sakura stopped herself when she saw his bright red eyes. _Not again..._

"Naruto, what's wrong?" Shikamaru asked warily. He too had seen the livid eyes.

Naruto tossed the scroll at his feet. Shikamaru opened it, giving Sakura some space to read over his shoulder. Shikamaru's eyes grew faintly as he finished, and a few seconds later, Sakura let out a full gasp.

"Annie...is captured... by a stranger." Sakura tried to put the pieces together.

Naruto nodded in fumes, his back turned to the two.

"And...this guy...he's as fast, _as strong_, as she is?" Sakura continued.

"Faster. Stronger." Shikamaru amended with a haunting tone.

With that last frightening comment, a silence fell upon the three. It wasn't a very quiet silence, while their emotions emanated loudly off of their thumping hearts and echoing expressions.

Shikamaru broke the silence. "We should tell Kakashi. He was worried about Annie as well."

Naruto nodded dimly. "Y-yeah."

Sakura folded her arms. "Let's split up. We'll find him faster that way."

They nodded their heads in agreement and were gone in a flash.

Naruto ran throughout the town, looking for Jiraiya as well as Kakashi. The entire town was quiet and gloomy from the funeral for the Hokage that morning, besides the hospital, of course. They were still bursting at the seams with injured ninjas. He ran through places Kakashi would be in normally. The comic shop... his apartment... the training arenas...The hospital ...Hokage tower?

He mentally checked off each place until he was down to Hokage Tower. It was temporarily off limits to Genin and citizens. He didn't see why, since they cared about the Hokage too.

Naruto jogged away from the tower, hid behind a tree, and said, "Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" With a few dozen clones, the Jounin up were easily distracted up front while Naruto snuck around the back. He climbed up the wall and looked through the window of the second floor. There was Kakashi, conversing with a few other Jounin about something obviously unimportant to him at the moment. He seemed to have his mind on something else. Naruto knocked on the window, catching Kakashi's attention. He made a few gestures to get Kakashi to come outside. He looked at Naruto strangely, then shrugged his shoulders passively and inched toward the window.

Kakashi climbed outside the window, ignoring the sudden questions of the conversing Jounin Ninjas. He joined Naruto in sliding down the wall and landing on their feet.

"What's this all about, Naruto? After all, I was having the most _interesting _conversation..." He asked with unhidden sarcasm.

"Kakashi-Sensei, Annie-Chan's in trouble." Naruto asked with complete seriousness.

"Annie is _always_ in trouble with something, Naruto." Kakashi said passively.

"No, I mean big-time. I haven't seen her since I left her at the tournament, and I found this on her desk." He dropped the scroll in Kakashi's projecting hand. He brought it to his face and scanned the writing. His passive expression flickered.

"Seems like nothing but a little prank, Naruto. She probably wants to get you back for dying her hair pink for a day."

"But Annie and I would never prank each other _like this_, _today! _You know that, Kakashi! And look, she also left this next to the scroll." He pulled Annie's necklace out from under his orange jacket. "She would _never_ leave this hanging around just for some stupid prank!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Naruto, she's fine. I saw her earlier today. She simply didn't want to go to the funeral."

Naruto didn't like it. Kakashi was a good liar, so he couldn't tell the difference between his truths and lies, but something just didn't seem right.

"Kakashi-Sensei, if you think Annie is in trouble, I want to know. She's my best friend. My teammate. I don't think Annie would just ditch a funeral, or me, or this necklace." He said firmly.

For a moment, Kakashi looked surprised. _Wow, I almost forgot how sincere he can be at times. Usually he's such a carefree goofball..._

Naruto stared at Kakashi for a long, silent moment. Kakashi finally broke the silence with a breath. "I suppose you're right. Truth be told, I thought something was up too. I did a little investigation of my own this morning, but I got pulled away to help rebuild the town and whatnot."

Naruto smiled goofily. Great, now he just had to grab Shikamaru and actually begin the search.

"Okay, we got the letter, we got Kakashi-Sensei, now what?" Sakura asked.

Naruto answered immediately. "Kakashi, do you think we can get Pakkun to sniff out Annie?"

Kakashi shook his head. "He's still too tired from yesterday."

Naruto's bummed-out face lasted exactly a second before he thought of something else.

"Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Hmmm?"

"Is it true that _Orochimaru_ is the one who led the attack on Konoha?"

His silver-haired sensei nodded, but it took a full second for him to realize what Naruto was getting at.

"No...that couldn't be..." Sakura also picked up on the message. Shikamaru was clueless.

"What're you guys saying?" Shikamaru folded his arms impatiently. Being pretty smart, he didn't like remaining the only uninformed one, especially with Naruto around. Sakura then looked at Shikamaru like he was some kind of stranger about to be told a very personal secret.

"Annie...has this thing with Orochimaru." Sakura hesitantly stated as she rubbed her arm nervously.

Naruto spoke up. "More like Orochimaru has this thing with Annie. She wants nothing to do with him."

Shikamaru made a sour face. "What kind of _thing_ are you guys talking about?"

Naruto snorted. "Nothing that _you're_ thinking about. Orochimaru has been interested in Annie's powers since she was little. He's been chasing her around ever since."

"She's had those powers for that long? I mean, I knew she had Air Jutsus, but...All five? Since she was a kid?"

"Yes, Shikamaru, _All five since she was a kid_." He stressed.

"So you think that after Orochimaru nearly died fighting the _Hokage_, he grabbed Annie and left." He looked at Naruto with distinct criticism.

"Um, yeah." Naruto said, completely missing the facial gesture.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Naruto, what you mean is, one of Orochimaru's _allies _had to have taken her. Orochimaru was too weak to do it at the time." Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, so where are we gonna find him?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No where. His new hideout is being searched for as we speak, but it's hopeless."

Naruto pounded his foot on the floor. "You CANNOT give up hope. We NEED to find Annie. We _can't_ just leave her in the hands of Orochimaru. He'll mess-" Naruto stopped himself from saying_, 'He'll mess up her body again. He'll hurt her. He'll make her forget me. He'll take her away from her friends and family again.'_

The three others looked at him with concern dabbing their eyes. An awkward silence choked Kakashi's mind.

"Well...we have to do whatever we can to help. I'm going to do some research with the Investigation teams on the job, and you three...stay out of trouble."

With that, Kakashi was gone. The three genin looked at each other, and then split up. Naruto was back in his apartment in an instant, pacing across the floor nervously. His pacing grew into the kitchen. He opened and shut a cupboard repeatedly for no reason. He reached into it and grabbed a quick-ramen cup. He unsealed it partly, then attempted to reseal it, then unsealed it even more. He inched his way towards the microwave and placed it exactly in the center of the plate.

He forgot the ramen and started pacing again.

Naruto Uzumaki, the fearless knucklehead, was nervous.

He suddenly remembered something Annie had told him before the Chuunin Exams, which now seemed like a long time ago.

"_Yeah, I remember a lot of things I did with Orochimaru. I don't know why, I was only three! I remember we did a lot of moving. Every couple days, I had to pack my few belongings and walk through the wilderness for a long time. I wasn't allowed to make much noise or use any Jutsus when we traveled, so it took a long time to get used to. I remember a hideout that we went to one time; It was beautiful. It was a crystal cave on the inside of a huge waterfall. Every sunset, the light would the crystals and the water just right, a rainbow would bounce around the cave, everywhere. It was breathtaking. Every time it happened, I had this special feeling spark up in my chest. I hope I feel the same way again someday."_

That's where a hideout was. That's where she could be.


	20. Karu's Location

Chapter 20:

"Uzumaki! What a surprise! I never expected to see you here!" A messy-haired blonde lady with circular glasses stood up from her paper-strewn desk in surprise. She had every right to be surprised, Naruto had never stepped foot in the old library. She suddenly felt she had to make a big impression on Naruto to get him to come more often. It would definitely advertise her library.

"What do you need, Naruto?" She said with efficient matter.

Naruto looked at the blonde lady with a determined question in his eye. "I'm looking for a certain place that my friend described to me. Do you have geographical maps in here, some cartography maybe?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yes! Follow me, if you please..."

She took off a brisk place, her high heels clicking on the old wood floor. Naruto followed her into the maze of bookshelves. The smell of musty, old leather and paper filled his nostrils. He couldn't imagine how Annie could stand researching Orochimaru and her powers in here. But, she didn't actually ever say she liked it.

"Here's our cartography section. What are the coordinates of the place you're looking for?"

"I dunno."

"That's alright, not very many people do. How about the name?"

"I dunno."

The librarian tapped her high heels impatiently. She sighed. "Hmm...maybe a description?"

"It's a waterfall with crystal caves behind it. It's special because, according to my friend, every sunset for about five minutes the light would hit the caves just right and reflect rainbows around it."

The librarian lifted her eyebrow. "Sounds familiar...I don't think we'll find it here."

She licked her finger and thumbed through an old atlas. "Caves...caves...caves...no, not continents...Hmm...Sorry, Naruto, but there's nothing here about special crystal caves behind waterfalls. But, I swear it's familiar. Anything else you know about it?"

Naruto thought for a moment. There wasn't anything else...right?

He kept thinking.

Hmmm...

NO DUH!

"It used to be one of Orochimaru's hideouts, but it was found out by our ninjas!" He said triumphantly. The librarian smacked her forehead. "Of course! That's why it's so familiar! It's the Kurisutaru no Yume Cave!" (Dreams in a Crystal)

She clicked her heels towards another dozen rows of dusty old shelves, before stopping and turning towards Naruto with a look of suspicion crossing her face.

"That was a top secret s-ranked mission. How could your friend know about it?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. It wasn't his place to share Annie's background with Orochimaru

"I don't know, and frankly, I don't care. She's in trouble. She might've been taken to that place, and I _need_ those coordinates to find her."

As Naruto bunched his fists, the library lady almost winced, remembering his powerful fight with the byakugan boy.

"Uh…right this way…Kid, you're gonna get me in trouble…"

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **

Kakashi and Sakura rapped on Naruto's apartment door.

"OPEN UP, BAKA!" Sakura shouted at the door. Kakashi looked at Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

"He must not be here. We promised not to meet for two more minutes anyway."

"Stupid little….hmph!" Sakura sat on the floor with a furious pouty look.

"If Annie were here, she would be staring you down right now."

Sakura looked up at Kakashi, a touch of a smile replacing the pout.

"She never liked it when I called Naruto _baka_, did she?"

"Why are you guys talking about Annie like she's dead?" A dark-edged voice startled Sakura. She turned around to see Naruto holding a small scroll. What startled her, she realized, wasn't his sudden entrance, but his usually light and goofy voice tainted with real anger. She'd seen him angry before, at Sasuke, enemies, and stupid circumstances, but this was different somehow. He meant business.

"She's thirty miles south from here, _alive_." He emphasized _alive_, as though to diminish any accusation that she wasn't.

"How do you know?" Sakura asked, constricting her voice to make it sound gentle. Naruto waved the little scroll in his hand and tossed it to Sakura.

"That's the place she mentioned in her note." Sakura caught and scanned it. When she got to the bottom, her eyes grew wide.

"This is stamped _from the Library of Konoha_ at the bottom. You…went…to the library?" She looked at Naruto with very genuine-looking shock. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Remember, this is a rescue mission. That means we sneak in and sneak out, with as little fighting as possible. We have to keep calm and quiet when we are in or near enemy territory." He said firmly. Naruto and Sakura nodded with a grunt of agreement. They wasted no time escaping the hokage-anguished city.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kakashi couldn't help it when flashbacks started to echo in his head as they repeatedly jumped from tree to tree, traveling at least ten miles per hour. He hadn't thought about any of yesterday's events, leaving open ended questions floating about, waiting to be gnawed on.

To start, where had Annie's sudden powers come from? Why didn't he know about this? Maybe if he hadn't focused all his time on training just Sasuke, he would have found out earlier. How was it even possible that she had hidden three other elements and two crazy super jutsus?

How did she even get those powers?

He thought about Annie's past. Or rather, the lack of one. He had checked all of Team 7's profiles. She had no parents, no home, no family. He was pretty sure her last name was made up, maybe even her first name. She had just appeared out of nowhere. He wondered who had trained her to use the elements. Who could have? After all, no one has mastered all of the elements since the Shodai Hokage, Hishorama.

Naruto broke his string of thoughts with a look.

"Kakashi….she might answer your questions when we find her."


	21. The Girl of Two Worlds

A tree exploded behind the exhausted girl as she clawed through every branch in the forest. She panted harshly into the dark night, only the angry fire and the slivery moon serving as any light. There was no escape. She knew running away was futile, that it would only end in the man finding her and bringing her back to the cave. But she had to try.

Annie tripped, giving her captor the second he needed to catch her. She looked up with dread at the dark, muscled figure standing above her.

"Just as stubborn as I remember." A musing voice said.

Annie felt a jolt spiral through her. That voice…she had heard it before. It wasn't something from when she was little. Not something from her time with Orochimaru. It brought back older, warmer memories from before. Memories she had thrown away, with no hope to return to them. The voice sounded like someone from that time…

She turned around to face the Black ninja. She had seen his face before, for a split second, about five months ago. He had helped Orochimaru try to kidnap Naruto, only she intervened and they took her instead. But, that didn't make sense. Orochimaru and those old, old memories never mixed. He was _**here**_, and they were _**there**_.

"Who…who are you?"

"Aw, sis, didn't ya recognize me the first time ya saw me?" The ninja pulled off his mask to reveal a dorky smile with shining teeth and blonde rugged hair cut at his shoulders. Annie's throat caught. It couldn't be!

"J-Joey?" she felt tears puddle around her eyes. She hated to cry, but it couldn't be helped. Could it really be him?

"It's me. I can't believe I finally found you." He said, his voice cracking.

"I-how-what-!" Annie's mind spun with questions until it became furious. "Well, it would've been easier if you took off the stupid mask!"

"It's not that simple, Ann." He said with perfect patience. He kneeled down next to Annie to sweep away some stray tears. Annie felt a confused happy warmth in her heart at hearing her brother's annoyingly patient voice.

"I'm a fugitive in your village. After what that snake-guy made me do, none of the ninjas

would ever let me near the village. I would be killed on sight. I had to take advantage of the attack and steal you away, just for a little while."

"Oh. What did he make you do? Why did you have to do it?"

"I dunno, Sis. Most of the stuff, I don't even remember. He messed with my head, brainwashed me. I think I may have killed some people. I'm not sure, but that's the message I'm gettin'."

Annie just became more confused with each answer. "Brainwashed-? But how did you even get here? Where did he find you? What-!"

"Calm down, Sis. I'll start at the beginning. Do you remember when he took you from home?"

"Barely. It was years ago."

Joey grimaced. "It's only been six months since he took you."

Annie winced. "Oh...right. I forgot that messed up time stuff. Different world, dimension, starting over my life. Ugh."

Joey raised his eyebrow. "Starting over?"

"Yeah. When I came here, I started over as a three year old. I don't know how or why, but it happened. Can't you tell I'm younger? I'm only twelve."

Joey felt increasing horror at the idea of Annie being stuck in this world for so long as he realized that yes, there had been a big difference in her looks. She was shorter, uncurved and child-like, her face was still a little round with a smaller teenage chin. There was evidence of hard physical exercise that hadn't been there before, her muscles much more firm, her baby fat nearly gone, and her skin was tanned and scarred with cuts and burns. She was no longer the fifteen year old girl he knew.

"You...Ann...for so long?" He mumbled out in shock.

"Yeah. I can hardly remember anything about my past life." She winced as she realized that calling it a "past life" wasn't exactly the most sensitive thing to say.

"That...is so...messed up!"

"Um, yeah." She said with a self-conscious tone. "We've established that. The, um, exploded tree behind us is starting to dim. How about we go to that cave? Then you can actually tell me how you're here."

"And probably why you're here too."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A fire crackled, surrounded by three exhausted rescuers. One had fallen asleep, leaning on another. It was normally awkward for that one to do so, but he had gone through a tough, heartsick day and had not been prepared for it with much sleep the night before. Sakura, the rescuer Naruto slept on, felt some sympathy towards him and did not brush him off her shoulder right away.

"I hope he doesn't drool." She said with a slightly peeved voice.

"Just make sure his mouth stays closed and you'll be fine." Kakashi said with a smiling eye. Sakura made a face and pushed Naruto gently onto the ground.

"Well, rest up. We'll be onto Annie in the morning."

"But, I thought we were staying up all night."

"I just said that to get Naruto to calm down. Even he needs to sleep. We've been searching the area four hours. There isn't any caves or mountains anywhere."

"Maybe we'll see it with better light in the morning."

"I suspect so, if this map is anything to go by."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the distance, another dim fire smoked out of a cave.

"I remember that moment more clearly then any other. We were out playing in the yard, in the sprinklers. I remember thinking how I hadn't done that with you in a while and what my girlfriend would think if she saw me...and then, we saw a white snake slithering in the grass."

"And it bit me in the neck." Annie interrupted, sliding down her sleeve to show the Mark.

"Yeah, then you screamed and passed out, and I ran to get the phone and call the ambulance, but before I could, he showed up. Orochimaru, pale skin and all, pointed a green light from his folded fingers at your body. I practically saw your soul leave it. It was awful." he shivered. "I thought you were going to die."

"So then what happened?"

"He disappeared, with your soul. I called an ambulance anyway, knowing full well that there wasn't much chance of your living. A few weeks later, he appeared in my bedroom." He told me you had run away from him, and he needed my help to find you. I told him I'd never help him, and then everything went black. I found myself outside, in this outfit, holding a flaming sword, and staring at you. I was on the ground, close to dead, and it looked like it was you who had beat me up. I think it was seeing your face that had woken me up."

Annie smiled. "Oh. So then, you left Orochimaru and tried to find me?"

"That about sums it up."

"So...now what?"

"We get you home."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


	22. Brother and Sister

A small blonde boy of thirteen clasped onto a scroll, looped into a necklace with four metal disks dangling on it. His teacher with spiked silver hair and a handkerchief covering almost his entire face cast a worried look upon him. He watched the boy stare at the trees ahead of him and jump from one to the next without a thought, all the while involuntarily rubbing the smooth surface of one of the four disks.

"Ah, Naruto..." Kakashi said, "You're running in circles again..."

Naruto was shaken out of his dream-like state. "Sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't get much sleep last night."

"You didn't?" Kakashi asked, remembering trying to fall asleep to Naruto's snoring.

"Yeah...had some nightmares." Naruto said with a blank look, just as he turned away and hopped to a tree farther through the forest. Kakashi could tell he didn't want to get into it.  
>Sakura stumbled onto the branch next to Kakashi. "Naruto's not acting like himself. He's dead serious about everything, he's not rambling on and on and on..."<p>

"He's just worried, Sakura. That's all. On our usual missions, it's never his best friend that's in danger. He feels confident he'll get the job done. But this time, every little worry sparks up in his mind."

"He seems to know more about the situation then we do, Kakashi. Something about Orochimaru and Annie...having some kind of history?"

Kakashi nodded, as if he had heard just as much. But on the inside, he was shocked.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Annie had slept fretfully that night. She stood at the waterfall, smoothing out a puddle of water in the rushing foam, trying to make a mirror. The chaotic sleep had not only messed up her hair, but had also turned on her firepower. The edges of her dark brown hair was singed to a crispy charcoal white. It actually looked kind of cool.  
>"I think I'll keep it that way. It's unique."<br>Annie's brother, Joey, appeared from the very back of the cave. He had slept there to escape Annie's dream-fighting.  
>"Annie, what the heck were you dreaming about last night? And...ugh, what's that smell?"<br>"Burnt hair," Annie replied, swinging her hair around. "Cool, right?"  
>"Mom's not going to like that. She'll think you look like a punk." He smiled.<br>At the thought of her mother, Annie turned away, suddenly depressed. "Right...Joey, I haven't made my decision, yet."  
>"Ann! Don't tell me you're thinking about turning your back on family!"<br>Annie looked Joey square in the eyes like she'd been challenged. She slipped her hand in her pants pocket and turned out two sticks the length of her hands. She slapped them in the air, and the sticks spanned into blue and white fans. Wind began to rush and spin in the cave, almost knocking Joey off his feet. Then, with her back to the waterfall, she jumped backwards.  
>"Ann!" Joey shouted as he reached to stop Annie from falling. She vanished behind the wall of water. He stepped back a couple paces then charged through the wall of water after her.<p>

He looked to the sky, and there she was. _flying. _  
>Wind rushed around her, her hair whipping everywhere. Her fists were bunched, one fist glowing blue with a circular, flowy light, and one an angry red fire. Electricity zipped around her flexed body, giving off a powerful aura. Every inch of her body was angry and fierce, her fists bunched, her muscles tensed, and her teeth clenched. Every inch, except her blue eyes. They were tinted with a deep sadness.<br>"Ann...what are you doing?"  
>"Doing what I'll miss! Freedom, flight, amazing abilities...I'll have rules and a family to hold me back, school, I'll be limited to the ground. I won't be able to just lead my life being a hero. I'll have to get an education, make a career..." The fierce energy around her slowed as she began to float down. "And that's not even the worst part. Joey, I lived a second life here. I have true friends here who are almost like family to me too. I'm not leaving my family, I'm choosing between two different ones."<br>Joey nodded, understanding now. She looked into his eyes, and she found that underneath the understanding patience was deep sorrow.  
>"I see...I'll give you time to think. But we only have until sunset."<br>"It's only morning. I have time."

. . . . . . . . . . .

Sakura had broken off of the group, covering more ground. She tried to focus on finding the cave that Annie was supposedly hiding in, but some other ideas kept trying to distract her.

_What kind of history could Annie have with Orochimaru?_

_What did he want with her?_

_What does he want with her now?_

Sakura's thoughts and questions began to lean to a darker side as she discovered a waterfall in a rocky mountain side.

_When we first saw Orochimaru, in the Forest of Death, didn't he call her his daughter?_  
><em> Does she think of him as a father?<em>  
><em> Does she let him off the hook sometimes because of that?<em>  
><em> Do they work together?<em>  
><em> If they do, they must be plotting together right now!<em>  
><em> She was never kidnapped in the first place! It totally makes sense!<em>  
>Sakura stopped in front of the waterfall. She shook her head of the traitorous thoughts.<p>

_That's crazy...Sasuke-kun is hunted by Orochimaru too..._  
>The sound of pounding, foamy water constantly hit the rocks in the lake, the spray of escapee water droplets, the breeze and the hot sun. It was all a nearly perfect picture, but something intruded the scene. The smell of smoke wafted into her nostrils, shattering the image of a perfect spring day. Sakura scanned the forest and the clearing, searching for the source of the smell. Then she shrugged, thinking it didn't matter at the moment. Then she heard the voices.<br>"Joey, where are you going?" came a familiar feminine voice hiding behind the pounding waterfall. "I have to report to Orochimaru.," said a manly voice that had answered to "Joey". "Report? But I thought..."  
>"I haven't yet. It's the only way to use his teleporting seal."<br>"Oh, that makes sense."  
>Sakura ducked behind a rock as she eyed the silhouettes cast upon the blue waterfall. She listened and picked up on the rest of the conversation.<br>The girl voice spoke up again. "Well...do you think I could ever use it, later?"  
>"Instead of today? I suppose, but it might be a one-shot opportunity. He never just leaves his place behind."<br>"I know." The girl had a sad tone in her voice.  
>"Don't tell me...you don't just care about losing your powers, don't you? There's something else..."<p>

Sakura waited for another voice to speak.

"That boy you rescued! The blonde one, with the special red chakra. You _care_ about him!" Sakura winced at the accusing tone of the man's voice, like the girl wasn't supposed to care about anybody.

"Yes! I care! Is that a crime? It's been six years, he's practically family!" The girl shouted defiantly. Sakura's heart jumped at the familiar defiant voice. _Annie! _

"I can't believe...Oh well, it doesn't matter now..." The older male sounded extremely frustrated. "Ugh! Annie, I'm going to Orochimaru now. Wait here until I have his orders!"

"Maybe I won't!" She yelled in anger.  
>"Yes, you will." the man said with a sickeningly calm voice.<br>"Fine, but hurry up. Don't carry out any orders or anything without me!" She said with a hint of sarcasm.  
>Sakura gasped, quite loudly, but the two steaming ninjas didn't hear as the male left Annie with a splash.<br>Sakura sprang upon the unsuspecting girl.  
>"Oh-M-!" Annie screamed.<br>"What were you talking about? I should've known you were working for Orochimaru! You probably helped him murder the hokage!"  
>"What? No! What are you-!" Annie struggled under Sakura's weight. She tried to think about what to do, how to fight her, but how could she fight Sakura?<br>"Don't play innocent, you traitor! You liar!" She snapped.

Annie felt a deep rage at being called a traitor and a liar. Sakura should know better then to eavesdrop and then accuse so harshly. And what did she mean by the murder of the Hokage? She puffed up her cheeks and blew Sakura to the other side of the plain with a wind jutsu. Annie ran and stood on top of Sakura, a hot, splintered stare in her eyes.

"Listen up, Pinky! I am _no _traitor. Don't you even dare accuse me of something like that!" She shouted. The screams echoed off of the mountain and reverberated around the forest.

"Joey is spying on Orochimaru to keep _me_ safe!" She shouted louder still.

Sakura whithered. "Oh...who's Joey? And what did he mean by, "You're not supposed to care"?"

Annie became solemn. "He's my brother, and he's trying to take me home with no strings attached."

**. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .**

Naruto clutched a sharp kunai in his hand. He stared at the figure in the distance with hatred burning in his gut. He used every bit of self control possible to keep himself from jumping from the tree and slashing the man to bits. It was the Black Ninja, ignorantly scratching his head as he tried to figure out a map.

That man had kidnapped Annie.

She had said so in her letter.

But where was she?

Hundreds of terrible, gruesome possible answers filled his mind. What had he done to Annie? His rage took over. With a murderous cry, he jumped from the tree and tackled the man to the ground. _"Where is she?" _ He demanded with such an angry tone that he was hardly discernible.

"She? She who-" The man sounded genuinely ignorant at first, but he seemed to come upon realization.

"Nowhere. Now, go away, ki-!"

"WHERE IS ANNIE?"

The light in the man's eyes changed. He looked deadly, strangely reminding Naruto of the same occasional look in Annie's eyes when she was serious. Next thing Naruto knew, when was thrown into a tree, wind knocked out of him. As he tried to catch his breath, the man began to shout and scream words he could barely comprehend in his state.

"_You_ are the reason she won't go home! Why would she choose family over _you_? You're just a runt! A stupid kid! I'm her freaking-"

"Won't go home? What the heck are you talking about? And for your information, I've known her since kindergarten and we're best friends!" Naruto argued. "And you tried to kill her! And now you've kidnapped her! And what do you mean fam...family?" He stuttered on the last word. A cold chilled him as he thought about Annie's past. Could this be a link to her alleged family from far-off lands?

"I'm her brother, and you're in the way." The man said fiercely.

"In the way of _what?_" Naruto demanded.

"Of bringing her home. She simply_ can't stand_ leaving you behind." He replied with such gritted-teeth anger that Naruto almost mistook it for sarcasm.

"Annie...is leaving her family for...me?" Naruto whispered in shock.

"Her decision hasn't been made...yet."

Naruto grasped the tone in his voice. "I'll fight you for her." Naruto said, a stubborn turn in his voice.


	23. The Whole Truth

The two blonde boys, seventeen and thirteen years old, stared each other down. Hazel burned into tropical blue eyes with anger and frustration.

"You're going to take Annie away!" Naruto glared at him, clutching Annie's necklace in his pocket.

"I'm going to bring her back where she belongs!" Joey hollered back.

"She lives here now! With me! She doesn't even know you! Orochimaru kidnapped her when she was just a little kid!"

The older boy threw his head back and laughed. "She knows more then you think. You'd be surprised how much her story has been twisted inside your head."

Naruto growled. His whisker lines thickened and his pupils began to compress into slits. He felt himself slowly lose control as he charged at the man. Joey brought out kunais and raged towards Naruto.

"NO! _STOP!_" A frantic voice pierced their anger and a tornado blew Naruto and Joey apart. Naruto looked up to see a girl with wind-blown, light brown hair crouching on a tree branch above them, a kunai drawn in one hand, her other hand keeping her balance on the tree between her feet. She stared at the two, her mouth and chin set in determination, yet her eyes frantically looking between them. Sakura stood a few branched behind her, biting her nails.

"You don't have to fight, okay? Just stop. Joey, go do...whatever you have to do. Hurry, it's about two o'clock. And, Naruto..." She stopped and stared at him. She hadn't seen him for two-and-a-half days straight. For a while she hadn't even known if he was dead or alive. She felt tears flood around her eyes and jumped from the branch to hug him.

"I didn't know where you were...or what happened with Gaara...Heck, I don't even know what's happened in Konoha...Please, tell me everything..." She squeezed him tighter and tighter.

"Ann...I like hugging you and everything, but I can't breathe..." He wheezed. She released him and smiled.

Joey spoke up and said, "Okay, hate to break up the warm and fuzzy, but Annie, you still have to make that choice."

Annie frowned and backed away from Naruto. "Right...the choice..."

"You mean the choice to go home or stay here?" Naruto butted in, glaring at Joey once again. He nodded. They both turned and stared at Annie, as though waiting for her to suddenly come up with her decision.

She felt herself cracking under pressure. "I...I haven't decided yet! ..." She looked down, wishing they would too.

She could feel Joey and Naruto's disappointment emanating from them. Naruto thought she would choose him, because they were best friends and she had an amazing life as a kunoichi, plus he thought she didn't know Joey enough to leave. Joey thought she would choose him, because he was her family, and one of her closest friends before getting kidnapped.

How could she pick between this new life, her friends, her freedom, and her family? She knew going back to **New York** would be horrendously boring and unfulfilling. But she knew staying here would be sad and...almost empty. Her family...they had meant everything to her.

Today, her choices would impact the rest of her life. She knew that for as long as she lived, she would look back and think, "What if?"

Joey shot another glare at Naruto.

"I'll be back before sundown." He said with monotone, then disappeared into the trees with the sound of crinkling leaves and shivering bushes.

Annie looked up. Naruto met her eyes, and saw conflict of the worst kind fighting inside. She seemed to be on the verge of tears, the way they always were when she was thinking about her sensitive past. Sakura squeezed Annie's shoulders reassuringly.

"I think Naruto wants some explaining." Sakura said gently. After a few more minutes of tension and silence, Annie took Naruto's hand and sat down.

"You'll both need to sit down for this..." She said.

"So, Joey...he's my brother. And...Orochimaru captured him just like he did me, only it was a few months ago. Orochimaru thinks Joey is still on his side, so Joey is going to speak with Orochimaru and sneak a teleportation device that Orochimaru built a long time ago out here. Then he wants to take me home." The other two nodded in understanding.

"Now, I wouldn't go with Joey if I didn't know him. I mean, as far as you guys know, he's basically the older brother I was taken away from as a little kid. But, the thing is..."

Naruto and Sakura raised their eyebrows expectantly.

"I grew up with him, like any other girl did. I celebrated my fifteenth birthday party with him." She pursed her lips, waiting for Naruto to blow up.

She didn't have to wait long. He jumped his feet and his eyes were the size of plates. "W-_what? _You celebrated your _what_ with him? But...you're only..."

"Twelve. I know. Listen, on my fifteenth birthday, Joey and I were outside, playing around with my little brother and sister. After a while the little kids went inside, and me and Joey stayed out. Then, Orochimaru attacked us with his snakes, and I was..." She tried to find the words for it.

"Killed?" Sakura guessed. Annie shook her head.

"Almost, but...more like, _torn in half. _No, not like that-my _being _was torn in half. Most of me went in the portal with Orochimaru, but time and space got messed up. I turned into a little kid again, while the other part of me is stuck back home, in a coma. So, I basically had to start over here, but it's really like a second life._" _She looked down, expecting laughter or scoffing or more blowing up. This time, it didn't come.

After about five minutes of awkward silence, Naruto spoke. "So...this whole time...you've been, like, twenty-seven?"

Annie's eyes grew wide. "Oh, no! No, I'm still twelve and stuff-I mean-I've just been through-Ugh! Just don't think about it that way!" She gripped her hair in frustration. "No, time is really messed up. Here's the thing. His portal...it doesn't go to another land, per se. More like another..._dimension. _So, in that dimension I've been in a coma for about four months, but here, I've been around for nine or ten years. I think it's because Orochimaru's time machine was screwed up time and space between the two dimensions."

Sakura squinted at Annie, like she was trying to see if she was insane. Naruto just looked confused.

"Just think about it." Annie said, feeling exasperated from explaining her confusing life story. "If you're still confused in a few minutes...let me know." She stood up and walked away, vanishing between two large forest bushes, muttering something about throwing kunais.

Naruto picked at the grasses he sat on, resisting the urge to talk out loud about what was going on inside his head. He knew Sakura would punch him out of annoyance.

"Annie...never told me...fifteen?...keeping this all bottled up...older then younger..." He said under his breath. Sakura was confused and sad that Annie had hidden such a big (albeit weird) secret from her friends, but she couldn't imagine how Naruto must be feeling. They were so close, she had always thought that they had shared everything with each other. Now, Naruto had just been screwed over with sci-fi material information about Annie.

Naruto looked up suddenly. "We should find Annie."

"What are you thinking?" Sakura worried.

"I want to help her with her decision. I don't know what she should choose, but the pressure on her should be put to rest. I want to support her, not make everything harder." He said, standing up and walking to where Annie had disappeared. Sakura's eyebrows shot up. She was seeing one of those strange, rare moments where Naruto sounded sort of wise.

"You're right..." She said, surprising herself. She followed Naruto through the bushes and the weaving trees. They found Annie shooting fire, ice, and kunais at the trees, frustration fueling her tireless energy.

"Come on, Annie! Choose!" At the word _choose, _she punched a huge fireball the size of Naruto's torso into the tree, then iced it over, then cracked the ice with a flying kunai. She melted the ice with and even bigger fireball, then repeated the process. Annie stopped only when a flash of pain fired up her arm. She clutched her arm and fell to her knee, then glared at the tree like it had caused her pain.

"Stupid arm...stupid Gaara...stupid Sound Ninja...stupid choice...stupid tree..." She muttered.

Naruto cleared his throat to get her attention. She looked up and blushed.

"N-Naruto-Kun." She stuttered, sounding a lot like Hinata.

"Annie-Chan." He smiled reassuringly. "Annie, I have accepted your origin. I understand your conflict between going home and staying here. And I want to let you know... " He started to blush as he spoke his next words.

"**It doesn't matter** where you go**. I'll still** **care** about you and **I'll still be your friend**."

Annie's eyes widened. She let out a shuddering gasp and ran at Naruto, then wrapped her arms around his neck. Tears spilled down her cheeks.

_ "You don't know how much I've wanted to hear that from you, Muso-Ka!" _She hugged Naruto and cried on his shoulder softly.

Sakura hugged Annie from the side, so it ended up more like a group hug, comforting Annie.

"It's okay, Haru...It's okay..." Naruto whispered in her ear.

She breathed easy. Her heart rate felt normal. She no longer had the impulse to burn down trees.

"Okay...I can think better...I'm gonna...go and think..." She tore away from the other two and walked away. She then stopped and looked at Naruto over her shoulder.

"Hold up, I forgot to give you something back, Naruto.." Her eyes gleamed as she took his hands. She pecked him on the lips quickly, then turned around and dashed into the woods.

Naruto stood there frozen for a full minute, before a stupid grin spread onto his face.

"Um...Ahm...blah..." He stuttered. Sakura rolled her eyes with a smile and left Naruto in a mess. She didn't bother trying to beat him back into his senses, after all, a kiss is something you can never fix, or break.

**Four hours later:**

Joey raced against the snakes with a bundle in his arms. He hopped over branched, scaled trees, climbed over fallen logs, and ripped through dangling forest rubbish. The pale snakes were snapping at his heels. One falter, one trip, and it was all over for Joey. Orochimaru's "gaurd dogs" over the portal were persistent and never seemed to tire.

"Have to get to Annie...Have to get rid of these things first..." He knew he only had a little while before Konoha's fast and hot "winter" sun set at six thirty-two. Honestly, these people thought they knew winter? They'd never been to New York.

Well, honestly, they really hadn't been to New York.

This portal had only one chance. Sunset. Tonight. Then it was all over.

He tore between bushes, sprinting as fast as he could away from the snakes. They were still close, still capable of being a threat to his unsuspecting ankles, and to Annie, if he found her.

_Kill the boy...kill the boy... _They seemed to hiss words at him.

All Joey could think was: _Holy crap, am I going parseltongue?_

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . .

A/N:

_Yup. This story turns out to be about a girl from our reality. MWAHAHAHA!_

_Didn't think it was gonna do that, did ya? Well, I kinda revealed it a hundred years (two chapters) ago...so...Is your brain freaking out? Are you DYING? (Either from excitement or confusion or twisted corniness!)_

_ But honestly, like Annie said, just ask me if you have questions. I totally screwed my own mind over just trying to string it along. I can't imagine what it did to you. Maybe nothing. Maybe I'm just a moron. D:_

_ So, in that chapter where she saw her parents and family in a room and she almost died and stuff, let me clarify: She was temporarily flashed back to her other half. She would've gotten to see her family just before she died, and then, alone, the half in a coma would die as well. (Nada, she didn't go to Heaven. She wasn't totally dead yet. Besides...I think that may come across as sacriligous to some people)_

_ Lovely way to die. I mean, you die saving your friend, then see your family in your last moments. Of all ways to die, I would choose that way. Except, I mean, she was probably in a lot of pain, getting attacked by Kabuto and all. Okay, I'm done. Right now. Finito. And since I said done in spanish...I'm done. Yup. Right now._

_ I'M SORRY FOR WAITING FOREVER! SCHOOL AND EVERYTHING!MAAAAHHHH! :(_


	24. The Choice

Annie exhaled a contented sigh. She had made her decision. Though, not-so-deep inside, she still yearned for the other option. She knew she would be missed.

But, after all, family comes first.

Deciding against her family fought her very being. Deciding against her friends and her new life was painful, but almost natural.

Besides, her living here was in itself unnatural. She was being waited for on the other side, and she needed to be whole again.

_ Quit pretending and burst into tears already. _A voice said in her head.

She stubbornly refused, because despite what Naruto had always said to her, she still hated crying. A few hours ago, when she'd cried on his shoulder, that was different. That was...sobbing. Not crying. There's a difference.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an alarming shout, with muffled words about something like _parseltongue._

Ok. Annie was pretty certain nobody in this world read Harry Potter. The only one who would randomly yell a reference like that is...Joey!

"Oi! Joey! Where are you?" She shouted into the bushes. She heard was rustling and struggling in the leaves.

"ANN!" Joey's voice bellowed in alarm. Annie charged into the bushes and found him collapsed on the ground, a bundle a his side, snake fangs digging into his boots as he kicked and swung the snake around.

"Ah! It...burns...the poison..." Annie gasped and shot fire at the snake. It slithered away with a singed tail. She took Joey's boot off and analyzed the two bleeding holes in his skin. It oozed with blood and green poison. She spun glowing water in her hand from her pack and pressed it on the wound. The blood flowed in the water, and she flexed her fingers and drew green poison out. She used both hands and pulled the blob of water into two separate spheres, one with clean blood and the other with green goop. Joey felt the burn in his leg cool down as Annie pulled out more poison, then strangely energized as she put the pure blood back in his body.

"Agh...Annie...I need to tell you..." He bit his lip, tears started to come out.

"I need to tell you something, too. I'm coming with you, Joey. I want to go home." She smiled, expecting him to cheer up.

He didn't. "I'm happy that you would choose to come with us, Annie, but...you can't come home, yet." He said, hating his every word.

"What? Why?"

"Because I asked Orochimaru more about the portal. He eventually told me that if we go home, we'll be the same as we are now. You transforming into a ninja twelve-year-old after four months in a hospital would mess up not only the rest of your life, but probably space and time, too. You need to come back when you're fifteen. I need to leave now, before I get too _old_ to go back." Joey explained as he unwrapped the package. Inside was a Chuunin vest, only instead of the red swirl symbol, there was two silver time faces with a red button below them. One clock was moving at least twice as fast as the other. The fast clock was labeled _second_, and the other was labeled _first_.

"What does that mean?" I asked Joey. He shook his head.

"Don't know. But I do know this red button will take me home at sunset." He looked up and saw the sun barely kissing the mountains.

Annie bit her lip. After all of this choosing and inner conflict, it had turned out that she had no choice at all. She looked up into her brother's hazel eyes, fighting the urge to jump into his arms and burst into tears like a little girl.

_"Don't leave me. Take me with you. Or stay here." _She wanted to say to him. It sounded a lot like the words she had used when he'd gone to join the army last year-er, ten years ago-or, whatever. His first mission had been in Florida, during the summer. She remembered when she had dragged herself out of bed, tromped down the hallway in her disheveled pajamas, and walked in on Joey talking to his parents very quietly about going to the army in a few weeks. At first, she hadn't realized what all of hush-hush was about, but then she realized. _My big brother's leaving me!_

"You're thinking about last summer, aren't you?" Joey interrupted her thoughts. "You always wear that same face when you do."

She nodded. "I've been gone for nine years...and nothing has changed..."

He slipped on the vest and held Annie's hands. "I'll miss you, Sis. I'll take care of your other half. I'll take care of our parents."

"And you'll have to think up a good cover story for being gone so long." I winked at him.

He smiled calmly. "I don't see anything wrong with telling the truth." His voice seemed to echo as he let go of Annie's hands. The sunset's orange and yellow light shined around him and then seemed to burn through him as he slowly grew transparent. She watched in wonder and despair as her brother slowly vanished like a dissolving ghost.

"Annie! I hope it's not too late! Are you-?" Naruto came out of the bushes, then spotted Annie and relief flooded through him, until he watched her trace the nearly invisible fingers of her brother. Tears were streaking down her face. She looked into her brother's eyes, until she couldn't see where they were anymore. Sunlight blinded her, and a rainbow from the crystal cave nearby zipped past her brother's nearly invisible fingers.

He was gone.

She swallowed several times. Naruto came by and hugged her from behind, not saying a word. What was he supposed to say? "_Oh, Sorry about your brother, but I'm glad you decided to ditch him and be with me instead. Family sucks. I'm amazing, so stick around. You made an awesome choice. I totally approve. "_

"I'm gonna miss him..." She said. She'd just bought herself three years of getting even closer to Naruto, and then leaving him was going to be even worse. But, by then, she'd miss her family even more too...

Naruto just hugged her tighter. She knew he was secretly glad she wasn't going with Joey.

"Turns out I didn't have a choice whether to go or not. I have to be fifteen...the same age I left my world in." She whispered.

"Then...that gives us three good years." He said.

Sakura stood aside in the scene. "Um...guys...I know this is sad and all, but we need to find Kakashi. He's probably going to punish us for your three good years for not meeting up with him until sunset."

Annie wiped her eyes. "...Right. And on the way home, you can tell me all about how the war turned out!"


	25. Normal Society

"Hey, Mom! It's that five-element girl from the exams! And she's with that boy! Look, Mo-"

"Oh, Honey, come on, we have to go! Don't look at him! We can talk to the girl later!"

Annie clenched her uncasted fist. If she overheard another sour word about Naruto, there was going to be a repeat of her fight with Gaara. Except this time, she'd have to do it with one arm in a cast.

She growled. "I swear...I'm gonna...I'm gonna..._ooh,_ I'm gonna...So unfair...gimme one shinobi...one shinobi without a kid..."

"It's okay, Annie. Just calm down. We can't go on a mission all riled up." Naruto squeezed Annie's shoulder.

"How do we even know it's a mission? I mean, they're only sending ANIBU on missions, now, after Orochimaru and the Sound spies. Besides, we're going to a private meeting in the tower, not to the missions quarters." She tried to keep her mind off of the idiocies in Konoha.

Naruto smiled. "Because they know that we're totally awesome enough to go on missions with the ANIBU."

Annie smiled. "Yeah. That could be it..." She then sent another glare at a snickering shinobi guarding Hokage Tower.

They entered the Hokage office. Instead of the old man in a big hat sitting in the chair, there was a stack of paperwork. The village elders stood in front of the desk.

"Annie Marufuji...You don't have records of birth, living expenses, or moving into Konoha at all..." The old woman said, her dark eyes staring at Annie like daggers.

"Oh, I got living expenses, check out my hospital bills." Annie waved her broken arm in a cast and sling at them.

The even older guy ignored her and said, "No family records...no history, whatsoever...And then you suddenly show up in the Chuunin exams, with all five elements heeding your every desire. Something that hasn't happened since the first Hokage walked the earth."

Annie pursed her lips, anger beginning to seep from her presence. "Yeah, so? You're old."

The man growled his distaste at the girl. "You must give us information about your past, or we will pin you as a threat."

Annie stuck her tongue out at the old people. "Yeah, Ba-Chan? Well, maybe I don't know my own history. Maybe I'm a friggin orphan!" She sassed at them. They glared at her.

"So powerful, yet so disrespectful...I suspect you may be a spy for Obito..." The woman said.

"Go screw yourselves." She muttered. "I don't even know who the freak Obito is!"

Naruto took Annie's hand. "Trust me, she's not a spy for anybody. I mean, Annie can barely follow Kakashi's orders, let alone two people at once." He smiled until Annie smacked his arm.

The woman and the man stared daggers at Annie. "How can you be so sure?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows. "I've known her for what, nine years now? She couldn't go a week at ninja academy without wanting to scream at a teacher. She'd never be able to pull it off as a double agent." Annie smacked him even harder.

"What? I'm helping you!" He smiled at her. Annie rolled her eyes.

She turned to the Elders. "Listen, Grand Elders, I understand that my powers may be...considerable, but I am no threat to Konoha. I'm merely an orphan, and I have no ties with Obi-whatnow. I was raised by a man by the name of Hataku until I was five years old, when he died. Before that time, he taught me how to live off the land and to throw kunais and control my powers. When he died, I ran away before his killers could capture me. I came across this village and endeavor to become a part of it to this day. I have kept my excessive powers hidden, just for the sake of people like yourselves judging me to be dangerous and different." She said with a steady, flat voice. The elders looked taken aback for a moment, then returned to their stony stare.

"Fine, then. Leave us. We have a new Hokage to find." The old woman waved them away and Annie and Naruto bowed and left.

When they were out of earshot in the hallway, Naruto whispered to Annie. "Wow, Annie, you're _awesome_ at lying..."

"I've had to do it for years." She said. Kakashi materialized in front of them.

"Bah!" Naruto screamed.

Kakashi raised his brow. "You are shinobi. You are supposed to be ready for anything."

Annie sighed. "No one seemed 'ready for anything' at the Chuunin exams."

He smirked. "The village was quite surprised at both of your fights in the Chuunin exams. Annie, for your mysterious hidden talents, and Naruto, for his considerable growth and tactfulness. He also seemed to show hidden talents as well. It will get you more missions. Your fights have drawn plenty of attention, especially since you both are together so often." He added the last part with a little smirk.

"Can't they just...accept it and get over it?" Annie pouted, knowing perfectly well that any normal society wouldn't just "get over it".

"Ha, that's a good one, Annie. I myself wonder how your small, genin body could contain so much power at such a young age. Why, I've known about Naruto's miraculous power with the Kyuubi since he was a baby, but _you_...no one knows where you come from. Such power isn't...natural."

"It's not like I'm a freaking alien from outer space or something." Annie mumbled. Naruto looked at her strangely.

"What's an alien?" He asked.

She waved her hand. "Later. Ugh, this village is full of bakas." She said, resisting a glare at the people staring and whispering at her from across the street.

Kakashi's eyes sparkled in amusement. "Annie, it's perfectly normal for people to be curious about your powers."

"Yeah, I guess that's okay, but what I'm talking about is the people who try to figure out my powers without even asking me. They make up stories and rumors and get me in trouble. And they've been doing that to Naruto since before I came here." She said, glaring at the sidewalk.

Kakashi sighed. Naruto decided to get Annie out of the streets, since they seemed to be putting her in a funk.

"We should go visit Sasuke. I'm sure he's in more pain then both of us are right now."

Annie smacked her forehead. "Oh, _man_! I've been back a full twenty-four hours and I haven't even _thought_ about Sasuke! And here I am, whining about the elders! Let's go!"

The two left Kakashi in hurry to get to the hospital. They entered the hospital, not without running into Kiba.

"Oof! Watch it, ki- Annie! Hey! Where have you been? Shikamaru told me you ran into some trouble." Kiba smiled with his pointy teeth and black slit eyes. His furry gray hood was pulled up. Annie had never understood why his hood was pulled up at such a hot place like Konoha.

"Oh, Kiba, it's been a while. Sup?"

"Sup? _Sup? _When you said, "Bring out the big guns" at the second exam, I didn't know you meant all _five_ elements! Annie, what the crap? Why didn't you tell me about it? I bet _Naruto_ already knew about it." He said Naruto's name like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Annie sighed.

"Nobody but Naruto, and it's because he walked in on me training privately. I was hoping to keep it hidden longer, but, well, Gaara kinda ruined that chance." Annie explained monotonously. Kiba saw that she had probably explained that to a thousand other people, so he dropped it.

"...Okay, then. Well, look, Annie...I'm sure you can tell me anything. You can trust me. So, if there's anything you want to say, just ask, okay?" Naruto smirked as Kiba tried to earn Annie's trust. As if _he_ could really handle the truth.

"That's a sweet offer, Kiba. I'll think about it. But first, do you know where Sasuke's room is?"

He frowned. "Yeah. 382, but I don't know if they'll let you in. He's still unconscious." Annie thanked him and left Kiba in a flurry, Naruto running behind her.

They took the elevator, then had difficulty trying to find 382. When they finally found the room, Annie creaked the door open. There Sasuke lay, bandaged up and asleep. Annie stared at him from the doorway sadly, then started to leave.

"Wait, Annie. Aren't you going to say anything?" Naruto caught her arm.

"Like what? Have fun in the hospital?"

"No, like...I'm sorry, or get well soon."

"It's...been said before. I'm gonna go now." She left a clueless Naruto staring after her as she disappeared down the hall.

"Hold up, Annie-Chan. I'm coming!" Naruto ran towards her, accidentally bumping into a big man with long, white hair. The man grunted and grabbed Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto! Watch yourself!" Naruto looked up, alarmed, then laughed.

"Sorry, Ero-Sennin!" Jiraiya rolled his eyes and sweat-dropped.

"Don't call me that in a hospital! I've been looking for you." He leaned over and winked.

"I've got a special mission, and I'm bringing _you _on it!"

Naruto gasped excitedly. "Really? What sort of mission?"

"To bring the fifth Hokage back to Konoha!" He smiled widely. Naruto jumped up and down.

"YEAH! Jiraiya, are you going to train me while we are on the mission?"

He nodded. Naruto cheered louder.

Jiraiya watched the jumping, spiky-haired blonde boy smile and thought to himself. _He looks so much like his father...His personality is so unlike his father, though...In some ways...In others, they couldn't be any more similar... _

Annie turned around. She swore Naruto had yelled down the hallway that he was coming, too. Maybe he'd changed his mind, and decided to "talk" to Sasuke.

Either way, she was alone in the empty streets of Konoha. Nothing behind her except restless leaves echoing down the cobblestone street. Closed shops and rain-wasted posters were all that was left of the sad, little market place.

Annie herself felt sort of down. She was nowhere near as close to the Hokage as the average Konoha child was, but the news of his death had struck her solidly. She had no idea that the third Hokage was such an important person to Konoha. All she knew was that being a Hokage was a high aspiration, and it was Naruto's biggest dream.

She wondered how they picked Hokage. She supposed it was like picking the President of the United States. Running a big campaign and wasting tons of money on commercials, banners, signs, and giving big drama-mama speeches, ninja-style.

But that didn't seem like Konoha's style. Especially since not a lot of the citizens watched much television. Naruto didn't even own a T.V.

Annie was surprised when she got to her log house to see Naruto standing there expectantly. He was jumping, bubbly, and definitely exploding to tell Annie something.

"Hey, Naruto-Kun, I lost you back there. What's up?"

"I ran into Jiraiya-Sensei! He's taking me on an A-ranked mission!"

Annie's jaw dropped. "No _way! _What's the mission?"

He almost squealed like a girl. "To get the new Hokage and bring her back!"`

Annie raised her eyebrows. "Seriously? They've already chosen one?"

He nodded. "Why wouldn't they?"

She shrugged. "Well...where I come from choosing leaders are a big deal. And they wait a little while before choosing someone, too. Does she even know she's going to be Hokage?"

He shook his head. "No. Wouldn't that be an awesome surprise?"

"For you, maybe."

He laughed. "Yeah, it would. But, anyway, Jiraiya-Sensei is going to train me on the way, too! I'm going to come back stronger!"

Annie smiled. "How long do you think you'll be gone?"

He frowned. "A few weeks. Three, tops."

She sighed. "That's a long time, Naruto-Kun."

He pouted. "I didn't think of that, Annie-Chan. I'm sorry."

She waved it away. "I'll be fine. Pfft, what's a few weeks? I'll probably be busy on some A-rank mission of my own." She winked.

He laughed. "Oh, definitely. They'll see that you're really good, now."

Annie and Naruto chatted happily until Jiraiya took Naruto by the shoulder and told him that he should get ready. Naruto reluctantly left with him, but not without giving Annie a quick hug and waving good-bye over his shoulder.

As they left the village, Jiraiya thought: S_o Naruto's good with the ladies, huh? _

_**R&R PLEASEE!**_

_** IF YOU LOVE NARUTO,THEN YOU MUST R&R!**_

_** IF YOU LOVE NARUANN (Naruto and Annie) then R&R FOR YOUR LIFE!**_

_** IF YOU LOVE FANFICTION, THEN PLEASSE R&R ME BECAUSE I NEED WRITING SUPPORT!**_

_** I ONLY HAVE ONE REVIEW, AND OVER TWENTY CHAPTERS! THAT LOOKS REALLY BAD!**_

_** I know I wasn't such a good writer when I started this, but it's been a full year of non-stop writing and I think I've gotten better! But I wouldn't know unless somebody TOLD me, right? Please, PLEASE, PLEAASE R&R! I KNOW PEOPLE READ THIS! I READ MY TRAFFIC STUFF! I WILL FIND YOU ALL!**_


	26. Chapter 26

Annie leaned back on the door frame of Sasuke's hospital room. It had been about two days since Jiraiya and Naruto had left. She hadn't seen Kakashi since then. She'd been very lonely, and on several occasions, had started talking to herself, thinking that Naruto was still there. Then she'd turn around and realize, once again, she was alone. She'd never noticed how much of an appendage she must be to Naruto, she was around him so much. It must've been so annoying to him!

Annie glanced at Sasuke. He was asleep, a few bandages covering his arms and legs, covered by a thin gray blanket. His face was strangely serene, as though sleeping was like taking a vacation away from his troubles. He had a halo of shoulder length black hair spanned across his pillow. Annie felt her cheeks grow hot as she remembered that day at the flower shop, when he bought flowers "for his room", and then later that night, Annie found the exact same flowers tied in a white ribbon on her doorstep.

She'd hoped Sasuke didn't know the meaning of the flowers. Because that would mean he loved her. Then again, if he didn't, he'd _still_ be giving her flowers!

But...why?

For the longest time, especially after she'd first met him, she had always suspected that Sasuke hated her. Maybe what she'd said to him that day actually stuck with him. Maybe she'd changed him. Maybe he respected her for speaking out.

_"Sasuke, I know a lot more than you think. A LOT more. I know that "killing a certain man" because of something in your past is stupid. The last thing you want to do is go crazy on revenge. You'll end up hurting people you love just to get back at him. Will killing him ever fix what he did to you, Sasuke? Honestly, Sasuke-Kun, get some brains."_

Or maybe some other guy just gave her the same flowers.

Likely? Not really. She didn't feel exactly like a man-catcher. It would make more sense for some super-emo she was around all the time to give her flowers then for any other guy.

A groan and a mumble from Sasuke interrupted Annie's thoughts. She ran to his bedside to see if he was waking up. Sasuke's eyes were wide open.

"Oh! Sasuke-Kun!" Annie was about to give Sasuke a death hug, but she thought better of it and just squeezed his hand.

He looked at her with exhausted black eyes. "Wha...Annie-Chan?"

She smiled. "You're awake! Finally, I've been _so_ bored all day!"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "What happened?"

She bit her lip. "There was this attack during the exams. You were fighting that one Sand Ninja, but then Gaara attacked the stadium. You, Naruto, and Sakura chased him into the forest and beat him. I fought in the battle against the ambush, so I don't know the specifics, I just know you guys won."

Sasuke closed his eyes, taking big breaths. "...Naruto was so powerful. He beat him. I tried, but he was...that baka was stronger then me."

Annie held back a nasty glare. "So? Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win. Naruto's been losing for a long time, I think it's about time karma worked in his favor."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Karma?"

"Uh—um—nevermind about that." She realized Buddhism probably didn't exist here. "What I mean is that he deserves to be the stronger one once in a while. And he's been training really hard and improving a lot. Besides..." She swallowed as she thought about Sasuke's curse mark.

"Besides what?"

"Never mind. Hey, are you strong enough to sneak out of the hospital? Because I was hoping to find Kakashi and see if there's any training we could do today."

Sasuke swung out of bed and stretched. "Okay. Let's go see him. You know, he might just force me back into the hospital."

"Then trying to outrun him could be good training."

He smirked. "You're crazy."

"I know." She smiled like being crazy was a compliment.

They ditched the hospital and asked around the village where Kakashi was. The ramen stand guy said he'd seen him and some other Juunin around the lake. A woman said she'd seen some Juunin traveling across roofs urgently. Several people said that there was a sensei meeting going on somewhere in the hospital.

Eventually, they were back at the hospital. Sasuke and Annie walked up the stairs, not knowing where they were going to look next. Just then, Sasuke caught the sound of hushed tones nearby.

Annie listened. She swore the voice was Kakashi.

_"I know...we have to be secretive about this...especially around Sasuke Uchiha..."_

She jolted at Sasuke's name. Her eyes met Sasuke's with alarm spelled on his face.

Sasuke stepped inside the doorway, just as a loud Juunin said, "Oh, right, we wouldn't want to him to find out that Itachi is around here. After Naruto, especially."

Annie's eyes grew wide as she registered that someone was after Naruto. Sasuke's jaw dropped. He whispered the word, "Itachi!"

The senseis in the room paled. Kakashi face-palmed at the stupid, loud Juunin.

"Who the heck is Itachi?" Annie's eyes narrowed. Kakashi looked at her urgently.

"Annie, don't let Sasuke go after h—" But it was too late, Sasuke had zipped past Annie and vanished down the hall.

"It's that guy he wants to kill, isn't it?" She groaned inwardly. He hadn't taken her advice about leaving revenge behind.

"Yes. Hurry. Stop Sasuke. He'll get hurt."

"What about Naruto?" She asked.

"He's in good hands. Just stop Sasuke."

Annie doubted his words. With every muscle and bone in her body, she doubted that Naruto was really safe with Itachi after him. She also doubted that even she could stop Sasuke from revenge. She took off without making a promise and flew after Sasuke with the speed of a falcon.

. . . . . . . .

Sasuke had thought for the past hour of running through the streets down to the outer villages that the shadow above him was a bird. Now he realized it was Annie, flying over him protectively, probably planning on scooping him up and taking him home when she got the chance.

"You can't stop me, Annie-Chan!" He shouted after her. The village where Naruto and Jiraiya had to be was just a hundred yards ahead.

"Yes, I can! But I'm not going to—we need to save Naruto!" She yelled back.

Sasuke kept running in silence. As much as he wanted to protect Naruto, his thoughts were mostly revolving around Itachi. They got to the village quickly, only to find dozens of possible motels where they were staying. Annie and Sasuke raced to different motels, never finding the right one, somehow knowing they were running out of time.

"He's close. I can tell." Sasuke huffed.

Annie glanced at him worriedly. She hoped Sasuke wouldn't do anything stupid. "Fine, try the next motel. I'll do the one on the other side of town."

He nodded, then took off. Annie flew into the sky, watching for the orange jump suit and bright, blonde hair.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Naruto heard a thump outside his door. He reached his hand toward the knob, carelessly expecting Jiraiya. He turned it and opened the door.

Two, beady read sharingan eyes stared at him.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Have you seen a boy with blonde hair about my age traveling with an old man with long, white hair?"

"Um, this hotel is for women only."

Sasuke had found the wrong hotel, again. He sensed something; urgency, alarm. Somehow, he knew Naruto was in immediate danger.

He raced to the next motel, and talked to the hotel manager quickly and impatiently.

"Have you seen a boy with blonde hair traveling with an old man with long, white hair?"

"Um...why, yes. They checked in to room 232 on the second floor."

Sasuke raced off before thanking the manager and ran up the stairs. He turned the corner, and came face to face with the man from his nightmares.

His brother, Itachi.

Naruto turned white-faced as the Itachi's companion with sharp teeth and blue skin grabbed his shoulder.

"Sasuke-Kun." Itachi sighed. Naruto saw the similar raven black hair, skin complexion, and face shape between the brothers. Sasuke growled and his eyes turned red, matching his brother's. His hands sparked with electric chidori. He charged at Itachi without hesitation, ready to shock him to bits.

Itachi easily knocked his hand aside, and the chidori dissipated. Sasuke's eyes grew wide.

"You haven't hated me enough, Brother." Itachi said, his expression empty. Naruto realized that Itachi, Sasuke's brother, was the man Sasuke had wanted to kill.

He struggled away from Itachi, and faced the man with the wrapped sword and sharp teeth.

"Kage No-bunshin!" He shouted, and a clone poofed to his side. The clone started to form the Rasengan in his hands, then Naruto charged at the blue man. He lowered his sword, and the rasengan was sucked into it. Naruto stared at the sword, shocked.

"It absorbs power. Impressive, huh?" The blue man grinned. "Now, how am I going to use it to kill you?"

Before he could make a decision, the wooden wall splintered open, and the blue man got a mouthful of Annie's fist.

"Leave him alone, fish-face!" She growled, then was shot back into the wall with a kick from him. She threw ice daggers at him, and he deflected them with the bandage-covered sword. The deflection shot them back at Annie, but they just faded through her and stuck into the wall.

For a moment, shock flitted across both Itachi and the blue man's face.

"Tobi's power..." Fish-face muttered.

Annie couldn't ask what he meant before a man with long, white hair stepped into the hall, his face poisonous and threatening.

"Leave us." Jiraiya glared at them.

Before Sasuke could give another fail attempt to attack his brother, they disappeared.

Jiraiya turned on Annie and Sasuke. "What are you two doing here?"

"We heard Itachi was after Naruto and came as quickly as we could." Annie replied.

He glared at Sasuke. "You stay away from Itachi, boy. He's dangerous. You too, girl. Just because you have certain talents doesn't mean you have a chance against the Akatsuki."

They both nodded reluctantly.

Naruto grinned. He hugged Annie quickly. "Annie-Chan, I missed you. I'll be back soon, okay? You should go back to Konoha. You saved my life. Thank you."

She blushed a bit. "Anytime, Naruto-Kun."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Let's go." He muttered, grabbing Annie's hand and stomping down the stairs.


	27. Chapter 27

Annie studied the four washers on her necklace. One of them had a word engraved in the shiny metal in tiny cursive.

_ Hope._

It was a word she always pondered at this time of night. It was all she had, when Naruto wasn't around. Hope, the tiniest, smallest hope of finding a way home. Whenever she thought of hope, she thought of her mother. When she had handed Annie the necklace with a little smile, Annie had felt a special connection to the necklace immediately, like, somehow, she knew her and the necklace would go through adventures together.

She could hardly remember her mother's face, now. It had been years. An entire lifetime.

Hope. Another person who gave her hope was Naruto, of course. He clung to the hope and dream of becoming Hokage. He didn't care what got in his way, he kept that dream. He trained and trained and tried to become more powerful. He'd even showed her a new power, just the other day.

Rasengan.

She'd remembered her surprise and joy when the blue, glowing ball spun in his hands and cut into a tree. He was just one step closer to being Hokage.

Annie heard a knock at the door of her log home. She looked up from her bed, wondering who would possibly want to come to her door at two in the morning. She stood, placing her necklace on the night table.

She opened the door, startled to find it was Sasuke, his raven hair a little frazzled, his blue t-shirt and black shorts put on hastily. He hadn't even bothered to put on his calf wraps.

"Oh, hi, Sasuke. What's up?" She hadn't had much of a conversation with him since they had fought Itachi. That could've been partially her fault. She was a little angry that Sasuke was still after his brother, despite what she'd told him.

"Um..." He fiddled with his collar nervously. "I hope I didn't wake you."

"Oh, no. I was just..." She glanced back at her necklace quickly, trailing off. She looked back at him, meeting his eyes for a moment before they both looked away. Awkward silence ensued them.

"What are you doing, up at two in the morning?" She grinned.

"I was...just...well...That mission we have to go on, tomorrow...In the land of rice..."

"Yes?"

"It sounds...I don't know, dangerous..."

She raised her eyebrow. "We're just protecting a runner. It's not like Zabuza is going to attack us."

"It might be worse than that." He pointed out hastily. "Look, I just wanted to tell you to be careful."

She nodded, a little confused. "Okay. You should be careful, too. Is that all?"

He stared at her for a moment, his dark eyes seeming to contemplate whether to say it or not.

"I wanted to say...I'm sorry." He muttered. Annie blinked, completely surprised.

"For what?"

"I...I...didn't take your advice. Well, I sort of did, for a while, but..." He took a shakey breath. "I still want revenge. That's one of the only two things I really want."

She stiffened. "Sasuke, you know that it's wrong. You know that it's what Orochimaru wants. And that mark is going to kill you if you seek for revenge and power. Killing someone isn't going to bring back your..." She trailed off, not wanting to say _parents_.

He glared at her. "You don't understand what it's like."

She raised her hand to slap him. "No, I don't understand what it's like to lose my parents, but I understand what it's like to be lost."

He looked startled for a moment. "What do you mean?"

"My family lost _me_," She said, "Orochimaru took me away when I was little. I'd be happy to know that they still search for me to this day, but I would be extremely sad, angry, in fact, to hear that they instead search for ways to get revenge on Orochimaru."

When she finished speaking, they were both silent for a long time.

"So...What, do you want me to find ways to bring them back to life?"

"No. What I'm saying is, to find a new goal. One that would make them happy. To become a strong protector of the village. To raise a family and train your sons and daughters the way your father trained you." She smiled, completely ignorant of the fact that Sasuke's father had actually trained him.

He stared at her for a long time, studying her face. "I see."

She met his eyes, trying not to be hypnotized by the black sea inside.

"I have to apologize for something else, too."

"What?"

"What I'm about to do."

He leaned forward, and Annie felt his lips brush hers quickly. She traced her lips, gripping the door before she could collapse in surprise. Her cheeks heated up, and her vision swam.

"Oh...my...gosh..."

Before she could come to grips with the kiss, Sasuke had disappeared, a little _sorry_ whispering with the rest of the wind.

Annie had always imagined that her first kiss would be with Naruto. Little did she know, it would be with Sasuke Uchiha, the boy who wanted to kill his brother.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

The mission protecting Idate from Village of the Mist assassins had been completely awkward and eye-opening.

It was awkward, because Annie had completely mixed up feelings about the kiss. She liked Naruto, but Sasuke had kissed her, but Naruto's sort've kissed her before, but only on the cheek, but she thought maybe she'd _liked _the kiss from Sasuke, but she'd always liked Naruto, but Sasuke seemed to sort've had first dibs since he'd kissed her on the lips, but Sakura was going to kill her if she found out Sasuke had, but Naruto seemed to have first dibs because he'd kissed her on the cheek first, but you don't even get dibs on a girl!

She was a very confused Kunoichi.

So, she'd sort've kept her distance from Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto was happily ignorant of her situation, though he was a little confused when she kept blushing and stuttering whenever he was around. Sasuke acted like last night had never happened, except for the few longingful glances he shot at her when he thought she wasn't looking.

It sucked. _So_ bad.

Then, when they had been attacked, Annie had been so distracted by her emotions she'd let Sasuke get hurt. He was out cold, falling down a cliff, and Sakura saved him by jumping over the cliff and using chakra to keep her feet on the wall.

Annie could _fly. _She shouldn't have allowed that to happen.

She finally focused enough to beat up the stupid ninja with Naruto's help. Eventually, they got Idate to the finish line safely and everybody was happy and cheered and all that.

Now, it had been two days, and Sasuke was back in the hospital, unconscious. Sakura was out of her mind with worry. Naruto had been training harder than ever to keep his mind off of it. And Annie was back in the library, reading about the legendary wood jutsu. A wood jutsu that she'd somehow been able to do once years ago, and now she could hardly remember how. Lately, she'd been happy with no wood jutsu. But now it frustrated her to think she couldn't do it anymore.

She had been pounding and clenching the table frustratedly as she sat and read through the ancient document, scaring some librarians when she interrupted the silence.

After a while, she heard another grunt of frustration that wasn't her own. She blinked and peered through a gap in the book shelf. There, she saw a lady with long, braided blonde hair, and a young face that appeared about twenty-five years old. She had a diamond shape on her forehead, and a long, green robe. She realized it was the new Hokage, Tsunade.

She'd heard from Naruto that she was a good person, if a little fiery. She watched the Hokage's vein pop in her head as she focused on her studies, medical studies as far as Annie could see through the gap.

"What are you staring at?" Tsunade growled without looking up. Annie jumped up.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry. I've just never seen our new Hokage before. Naruto-Kun told me about you."

She stared at Annie through the peep hole. "Naruto-_Kun_, huh? You know him very well?"

"Well, yeah. He's my best friend."

She softened a bit. "Are you his Annie-Chan?"

Annie blushed a bit. "_His _Annie-Chan? Well, gee, I dunno about that..."

She smiled. "He never stopped talking about you. I thought you were his guardian, or possibly a teacher or a trainer. The way he praised your abilities, I never thought you were his age."

Her cheeks grew red. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yes. Now, I'd love to keep chatting, but I have to continue my studies."

Annie bowed and left the room, her head swimming with the news of Naruto praising her behind her back.

"Oh, wait. One more thing." Tsunade called to her. Annie turned.

"Naruto told me that you could heal others with water. I think you should visit one of my patients at the hospital; Sasuke Uchiha. You know him, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'll do that right away, Hokage-Sama."

Annie checked in to the hospital, and was up on the very top floor, walking through the hallway.

She heard thumps on the roof. Nurses down the hall nearly dropped their clipboards in surprise.

A mousey nurse ran up to Annie.

"Um, hey, you're that five elements kunoichi, right?" She stuttered.

Annie nodded. "Yes. Is there trouble on the roof?"

She grimaced. "We think there are patients fighting up there."

Annie stepped past her. "On it." She ran up the stairs to the roof, where she found a scene of her nightmares.

Naruto glared at Sasuke, Rasengan swirling in his hands and Chidori sparking in Sasuke's. They stood across the roof top from each other, battle hatred clashing with their eyes. Sasuke was still in his hospital clothes, his eyes a little bloodshot, like he'd just woken up with an insane idea. Naruto seemed fed up and angry, and his eyes seemed to be just barely dilating, like he was on the verge of going kyuubi. Sakura had tears in her eyes as she ran towards them, about to step in between their oncoming attacks.

"NO!" Annie screamed, her horror growing at the idea of all three of her teammates killing each other.


	28. Chapter 28

Naruto's mind was nearly trapped in battle rage. All he could think about was Sasuke. Sasuke's weak points, Sasuke's stance, Sasuke's electrifying, deadly chidori.

And then, some tiny part of him heard a scream of complete, stricken horror.

_ "No!"_

From the corner of his eye, he saw Annie step onto the rooftop. Wind from the Rasengan and Chidori blew her hair around her face, and billowed her red t-shirt and washer necklace. Her face was sheet white with fear and shock, her hand reaching for him, her pupils pin-point sized, and her night-blue eyes swimming with tears.

His mind snapped from the battle rage. He realized Sakura was about to run between him and Sasuke and get extremely hurt.

But he couldn't stop in time.

Suddenly, Naruto's hand was crushed and he was thrown across the roof. His head hit something metal. He looked up, the pain in his head making his vision swim.

Kakashi was glaring down at Sasuke and him, his one uncovered eye full of enough anger for two. He had crushed Naruto and Sasuke's hands in an effort to redirect the attacks to two water towers on a distant roof.

"What were you two thinking? Couldn't you see that Sakura could've been killed?"

"I did...but too late..." Naruto muttered, his head down in shame. Sasuke said nothing.

"And, Sakura, don't step in the middle of an attack like that!" Kakashi chided her.

Annie stood, frozen, as she watched Kakashi continue to chide Sakura, and Naruto and Sasuke sat with dazed, ashamed looks on their faces. She tried to register what she had just seen.

Her confusion and shock quickly churned into anger. "What the freak? You two—you just tried to kill each other! Why would you do that? What could I have possibly missed that could explain how a common rivalry turned into murder?! I am going to—you two better run fast! I'm gonna—I'm gonna—Grr!"

She flew into the sky, yanking her hair in frustration.

Naruto stood up. "Wait, Annie! Come back!" He jumped the buildings, trying to keep the disturbed girl in sight, leaving behind Team 7.

Sasuke's head was still down in shame, as he thought about how he hadn't seen Sakura, and he might've killed her and Naruto right in front of Annie. He had been so angry that Naruto, the orange loser, had become more powerful than he was, that he lost control and tried to fight him.

That flash of horror on Annie's face...he'd caused it...

He'd thought that sudden kiss had wasted any chance he'd had with her. But, no. The fight had.

He left the roof, vanishing behind the two water towers that had taken Naruto and Sasuke's attacks. Sasuke's Chidori had made a big hole, ripping all the way through the tower. Naruto's Rasengan made a much smaller hole, a perfect circle that didn't appear to be very damaging, but then he glanced at the back of the water tower, and found that almost the entire backside of the water was gone. His Rasengan seemed as strong as Sasuke's Chidori, if not stronger.

He growled in frustration and took off, before Kakashi could catch him and say a word.

Only Sakura and Kakashi remained on the roof. Only they seemed to be mere bystanders to the suffering of Team 7.


	29. Chapter 29

The doctor stood over the unconscious fifteen-year-old girl hooked up to life support. Her light brown hair was spanned over the pillow, an oxygen mask surrounding her nose and mouth. She wore a simple hospital gown, and a little chain necklace of four washers.

"Take a look at our patient of several months. She's one our greatest mysteries." He gestured to the girl.

The college students gathered around the bed. Some of them stared at her blankly, other's eyes grew wide.

"She's sweating." One pointed out with a gasp.

"Indeed she is, Miss Walker. The room is a cool sixty degrees, and she hasn't moved a muscle in five months, yet she often perspires. If you look closely, you can also find tears from her eyes." The doctor paused as the students gathered tightly to see the tears.

"But...why? Is she dreaming?" A younger student asked.

He looked at the girl for a long time and sighed. "I don't know. You see, students, this is one of those mysterious in the medical field. There are many things about comas that still elude the scientific mind."

As the students filed out, he glanced at her one last time. He watched more tears flow. Her face grimaced in pain. From what, he couldn't begin to imagine. His eyes flickered to the week-old brain activity charts on the desk. It was more activity then he'd seen in a long time. At least three times that of the average conscious brain.

"It's almost as though she's living in her own little world."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Annie wiped her eyes and kicked at the tree. She didn't bother throwing knives or elements at it. She just punched and kicked and screamed at the tree, tears flowing down her face.

"Stupid...Stupid...Stupid boys!"

How could she not be freaking out? Her friends, Sasuke and Naruto, were fighting. They had looked like they'd wanted to kill each other out there. She didn't know why, but she knew that part of it could her fault. They both cared about her deeply. She knew Sasuke had a crush on her, and she'd always hoped Naruto had a crush on her as well. She thought she had it tough before, choosing between them, but now they were at each other's throats!

Well, honestly, the choice was easy. But if she chose one, then the other might freak out and still kill him!

"Annie-Chan?" A voice said above her.

Annie kicked the tree at the voice and turned away, hearing Naruto yell and fall out of the tree.

"Ai-i-i-i, that hurt, Annie-Chan!"

Annie resisted the impulse to turn around and check if he was okay. She huffed and folded her arms.

"Aw, Annie? You're not that mad at me and Sasuke, are you?"

"Yes, I am. You're splitting up the team. Messing everything up."

"Me and Sasuke—"

"Sasuke and I."

"Whatever. We've always wanted to go at it, Annie. We're rivals."

"You don't have to go at it, Naruto. You're only thirteen."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Annie turned around to face him. "You're only frigging thirteen! You shouldn't have to go through all of this, you shouldn't have a stupid _rival,_ you shouldn't be anywhere near old enough to be a ninja and put your life at risk all the time. Heck, kids your age don't normally like thinking about what they want to be when they grow up! You should be thinking about grades and girls and that bully that always hangs around after junior high and puberty and—"

"Annie?" He suddenly interrupted her.

"What?"

"What's junior high?" He asked innocently.

Annie choked. Her chest tightened. She realized that maybe she was ranting more about herself than Naruto. She couldn't meet his eyes for a few moments.

"You...you were talking about your home world, weren't you?" He hesitated.

"Yes. I was. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay." He silently studied her for a while with his tropical blue eyes.

After a while, Annie spoke again. "What I meant was, you have a long life ahead of you. You and Sasuke have a strong bond, and I don't want you two to waste it on something so common as a rivalry. You both have strengths, and you need to complement each other's strengths instead of tearing it down. A friendly rivalry is okay. Healthy, even. Look at Kakashi-Sensei and Gai-Sensei. They have a very positive, albeit one-sided, rivalry. But what I saw today, that was definitely _not_ good."

Naruto considered it for a while. They both took each other's hands and sat under the tree with cracks from Annie's kicks and punches.

It may have been ten, twenty minutes before either of them made a sound. They listened to each other's breathing, watched each other's eyes close in thought, then flash open when something else made a sound, only to realize it was a bird or squirrel.

"Annie...tell me about your world. How is it different?"

"Well, to start, there isn't any ninjas. Or, at least, they're only legends and cartoons and stuff."

"What?!"

"I know. Boring, right? There's no jutsus, or chakra, or nothing."

"But...no chakra? But you only have no chakra when you're dead!"

"We were born without it. I don't have any."

"Then how come you can...oh, right. They aren't real jutsus."

"Yup. In order to defend our country, we have a military, with guns and bombs and tanks and stuff. Our weapons and technology are a lot more advanced, since we had to get by without jutsus."

"What do you do for fun, then? You must fight a lot, since you don't have jutsus to beat people."

"Nope. Children aren't allowed in the military. You can go when you're eighteen or seventeen. We go to school and learn."

"Learn what?"

"How to write and read, and do math. I learned how to play an instrument."

"What kind of instrument?"

"The violin."

"I've never heard one played before."

"It's very pretty, if you get good at it."

"Could you play it for me, sometime?"

"Definitely, Naruto-Kun. Someday, I'll play _my_ violin for you." She smiled and curled up next to him in the shade of the tree. He was confused for a moment, wondering how that would be possible, but then just shrugged and went along with it.

"That would be lovely, Annie-Chan."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Annie was back at her log home. The sun was fairly low in the sky, probably only two hours before sunset. She was sitting on her steps, her back leaning on her door frame and her feet pushing on the other side. She was staring at the Team 7 picture. It was at least a year old, now. They all looked so much younger and more innocent, then. It had been taken only an hour before Naruto had nearly drank poisoned ramen. After that, everything changed. Little by little, the team was pulled together, and Annie's secret past had been dusted and revealed.

"Annie-Chan." A melancholy voice said. She looked up to find Sasuke.

"Sasuke-Kun!" She jumped up, almost dropping the picture as she tried to fix her hair and straighten her clothes. "You scared the crap out of me."

He smiled a tiny bit. "Annie, I'm going to be leaving for a while."

"What? Where? Why?"

"Only until I'm stronger. Don't worry. I'll be back...for you." He added the last part hesitantly.

"Will you be alone?"

"No, I have a mentor."

"Who?"

"Oh, you don't know him."

"When will you be back?"

"Soon. I promise." He smiled reassuringly, but his assurance meant almost nothing compared to Naruto's. Naruto never _broke_ promises. Sasuke never _made_ promises.

"Okay. But, Sasuke...make sure Kakashi's okay with it. I mean, he's probably already mad at you and Naruto for earlier."

His black eyes seemed darker than normal. "I already talked to him. I talked to him about a lot of things. He has probably already figured it out."

Annie studied Sasuke. "O-okay, then. If you think so."

"Wait!" She said before he could turn to leave. She handed him the picture.

"Sasuke, wherever you go, whatever you do, never forget _this_, okay?" She smiled and caressed the black hair out of his face.

"I promise I won't." He nodded, and then he left with the picture, disappearing in the forest before Annie could say or do anything to stop him. Little did Annie Wilison know that Sasuke's new mentor was Orochimaru, and his hunger for power and revenge had taken him over.


	30. Ninja No More: Part 1

"I'm glad the operation went well, Lee-San." Annie smiled as she and Neji helped Lee down the steps.

"It was a big risk. 58-42 chance." Neji muttered.

_ "_Really? And you took the chance, Lee-San?"

"I had to. Without the operation, I would've never been able to do tai-jutsu again."

"Wow, that's brave, Lee." Annie admired him. "It's amazing that you would make that choice in order to serve your village." Annie bit her lip as she wondered if she would make that choice for Konoha. She had a family and a whole other life waiting for her. This place...Sometimes it seemed like only another trial, a stopping point in her life. A very, very big one. Other times, it was like her second home.

They stopped at the bottom of the stairs as Lee caught his breath and readjusted his crutches under his arms. Annie helped him change his leg bandages, then whistled as she stared up at the tall stack of stairs from the hospital.

"That's a lotta stairs." She said. Neji didn't seem to have heard and stared into the distance with his pale, milky, moon-like eyes. Annie shuddered. His eyes creeped her out. They'd be a lot less creepy if they had pupils, at least.

Neji's eyes narrowed as a few people gathered at the base of the steps. Annie couldn't look up and see who it was, since she was too busy changing Lee's wraps.

"So it has started." Neji muttered.

"Yes. It's troublesome, but we need one more member for our team." A voice Annie recognized as Shikamaru said.

Annie stood and looked up. "What has started?" She saw that the "team" was Shikamaru leading Naruto, Chouji, and Kiba.

"She doesn't know?" Shikamaru looked at Naruto. Naruto's face looked stricken. He wiped away the alarm and laughed weakly.

"Don't you know...you know...about our...uh...food-eating contest? Yeah. It's this thing that we started a few weeks back. This week Chouji's choosing where it's at. Barbecue place, right Chouji?" He said, nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

Chouji looked up from his bag of potato chips. "Huh? Oh, right, barbecue...yum..."

Annie's night-sky eyes grew darker. "Right...Have fun with your food eating contest. I'm gonna stay with Lee-San."

Naruto nodded. "Ha-ha, great Annie-Chan! Come on, Neji! Let's go." Neji didn't say a word as he left with the boys.

Once they had gone, Leo said, "Naruto-Kun's a very bad liar."

Annie sighed. "I know. Adorable, isn't it? I might as well follow them and see what they're really up to."

Lee nodded. "I will go up these steps all by myself."

Annie's eyes grew. "Are you sure, Lee-San?"

"I am sure. I can do it." He gave his nice-guy pose with a thumbs up and sparkly smile, then started up the stairs.

Annie watched invisibly above the boys as they planned something at the gate. Shikamaru was sketching visuals of their formation on a scroll. Then he started to speak.

"Look, everyone, I don't know Sasuke that well. I don't even like him that much. But he's a part of Konoha, our own leaf ninja, a friend! We must bring him back from Orochimaru."

The word _Orochimaru _caused Annie to freeze. Her mind stopped working. Her body stopped fizzing with invisibility. She free-fell onto the ground, dirt exploding under her and billowing up in clouds.

Naruto turned around and saw the dazed girl trying to stand up and brush dirt off her clothes.

"Annie-Chan!" He grimaced.

She glared at them, or at least tried to, still being shocked from the fall. "Naruto! What's really going on? What's all this about Sasuke and Orochimaru?"

Naruto helped her stand. "Annie...please...I didn't want to bring you into this. With your past and everything...it's too dangerous for you." He whispered.

"What's going on?" She insisted.

"Sasuke...he left. He went to train with Orochimaru." He closed his eyes. Annie choked. When he'd spoken to her last night...he'd been leaving for Orochimaru?

He knew. Sasuke _knew _that she'd trained with Orochimaru, ever since the Forest of Death. He _knew _that she didn't want him to succumb to the curse mark. He _knew _the pain she'd gone through because of Orochimaru. He_ knew _Orochimaru had taken her away from her family.

Yet he had gone.

It was like a slap in the face. How could he have disrespected Annie's past at such a low level?

_ How could he do that to himself?_

She clenched her fists and her teeth. Every bone and muscle in her body tightened, like a coil about to spring. The casual wind speed kicked up into a roar. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Neji hit the dirt as the ground began to shake.

Naruto watched as a funnel cloud began to form around her, tears began to flow down her cheeks. His heart twinged at the pain she must've been going through. Losing her friend to a man who had once taken_ her _away...what could that be like? He walked as evenly as possible towards her, ignoring the earthquake and dust devil. He took her hands, then pulled her back to earth, surrounding her in an orange jumpsuit hug.

He hushed her, then felt her muscles relax underneath his arms.

She pulled away. "I-I'm sorry, Naruto-Kun. I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, Annie. Look, I—"

"Naruto-Kun!" A female voice came from behind them. Sakura, her pink hair, make up, and clothes messy and not up to it's usual standards, stood weakly, like she was about to collapse in tears.

"Sasuke..." She sobbed. "Sasuke...you have to save him..p-please, Naruto-Kun. Please promise to bring him back!"

Naruto looked between Annie and Sakura. His eyes softened, and suddenly, his smile seemed very fake.

"I will bring him back to Konoha. That's the promise of a lifetime!" He gave Sakura a thumbs up and grinned that foxy grin that Annie had for so long adored.

"Naruto, be careful what you promise." Neji muttered.

"I never go back on my word! That's my ninja way!" He cheered.

"I know." Annie sighed. "But, Naruto, please be careful on your mission. Don't let your promise get in the way of getting yourself home, okay?" She told him, then kissed him on the cheek. He blushed brightly then looked at his team.

"We should...uhh.."

"Just get into formation, lover-boy!" Shikamaru smirked and pushed him into place. The five boys turned around, Naruto swaying a bit, and started toward the little-known road into the forest.

After Sakura had calmed herself down, she looked up at Annie with a small smile.

"There's no way you're staying here, are you?"

"You better believe I'm not."

"You're gonna follow them, aren't you?"

"Yup."

"And you're not gonna care how dangerous that is?"

"Psh. I'm way more dangerous then any of Snake-face's goons. Believe it."

Author's note-

_:)Believe it:)_

_Hey, guys. First off, this story probably has about five or less chapters left. It's going on until Naruto leaves on his two-year training thing with Jiraiya, then I start the sequel. (YAYY ROMANCE AND HORMONES AND NARUTO IS SUPER HOT!XD)_

_I won't be doing all of Shippuden (HOLY COW THAT WOULD TAKE FOREVER) because that isn't even OVER yet and I really want to take the story a different (super cool slightly sci-fi) way. With lack of war and whatnot. But there is much Sasuke drama. And much Gaara drama. And much NaruAnn drama. And much action. Much, much action. And Annie has to make a choice...a big choice..._

_Konoha...or home?_

_Anyways, now that I have your silly little fangirl\dude minds under my power (yeah, right). I made a deviant art account and have posted two pictures (So far) of Annie Wilison, age twelve. Just look up Annie Wilison, and her two pictures will pop up. They're lonely and easy to find on deviant art. I'll put a link on my profile. I'm hoping that...someday, maybe...a fan will post an image of Annie, as well. (that would make my entire life) If you want to draw her, or make an online doll of her, I will totally give you a thorough description if you need one, although I hope that you already know what she looks like, since she's sort've...in my story...But I won't feel bad if you need one, promise:) I mean, it took me an entire super amazing series to realize that Annabeth's hair was blonde in Percy Jackson, so it's okay:)_

_No, the images aren't EXACTLY how I picture her. They're dolls from Azalea's dolls. I have an actual drawing of her (COOLEST. THING. EVER.) drawn by my friend...but I need to get it online somehow..._

_IT'S SO COOL. I PROMISE. IT HAS HER DOING ALL OF HER POWERS. AND LIGHTNING IN THE BACKGROUND. LIGHTNING MAKES EVERYTHING AWESOME._


	31. Ninja No More: Part Two

Annie watched in horror as they group of five caught caught in a huge dome of dirt, but she didn't interfere as only minutes later they broke out. She would've faded inside and taken them out, one by one, but she was sure that would only cause more problems. Besides, she was certain Shikamaru could break them out. And he did.

Then, the group began to separate as they encountered each enemy. Annie knew that wouldn't be good for any of them, but it was the only way to get Sasuke back. She stayed hidden, invisible most of the time, offering little winds of luck and shaking the earth just a bit to knock the enemy off balance. She knew that her help would only truly be needed when they met the last enemy. For a while, she stuck around with Chouji, who fought the weird orange-haired guy for a while, but then she realized with a little smile that he would be fine. She followed the rest of the group to the next enemy, a dark skinned guy with black hair and had copied Orochimaru's giant purple bow-thing on his back, who Neji stayed behind and fought.

The last three traveled until sunset, planning how to take down the last two. They said they wouldn't engage in battle during the night, but Annie doubted that it was even possible, expecially with an anxious Naruto on the team. All of them, even Shikamaru, seemed ignorant of Annie's presence. She swooped around them like a ghost, invisible, intangible, and flying softly. Only once did Naruto say something like,

"Is it me, or has the wind been especially unpredictable this whole time?"

Or Shikamaru said, "Luck has been with us, so far. It seems that the elements are in our favor, at least today." She grew nervous when he said that, but then again, that was a common thing to say in Konoha.

Why wasn't she showing her friends herself?

For one thing, she knew Naruto wouldn't be happy she was risking her life to help. For another, Orochimaru would probably predict she was there if Naruto was, and then she'd be in trouble with him, too. Plus, it was always good to have the element of surprise on her side, even with her allies.

The next day, the team fought the remains of the Sound Four. They managed to grab the basket Sasuke was in, but the Four were too fast. Kiba and the two-headed dude fell over the cliff and fought alone, Shikamaru engaged the red headed chick with the flute, and Naruto went after some guy who randomly popped up at the last second...this guy...he was familiar to Annie, for some reason. He smelled of Orochimaru's experiments. He grabbed the basket and took off, Naruto following behind, thanks to Shikamaru's plan. His eyes began to burn with red chakra, and Annie became nervous again. He was completely unpredictable when he got all kyuubied-up like that. Annie panted as she tried to fly at the same speed he ran, but eventually she fell behind. She lost track of him as he ran farther into the forest, and soon he was gone.

. . . . . . . . . .

A flash of curly red hair and bright blue eyes hid within the safety of the trees, watching, waiting as chaos boiled just a few yards into a clearing. Just the right moment, and the Demon of the Sand could step in and change the course of the fight about to take place.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, he, Temari, and Kankurou wanted to save these ninjas of the Leaf. They wanted to fight for them.

While Gaara appeared to be about to save Naruto Uzumaki, the one who'd told him about friendship, his mind silently churned with the name of a legendary girl who'd become the main gossip topic of the Sand Village.

_ Erementaru Hana..._

The Elemental Girl. Who else could it be, other than the one who'd fought him in the Chuunin Exams?

He'd never gotten those blue eyes out of his head. Their silent, steady pulse of color and light, so unlike her explosive words and facial expressions, like her eyes were windows to the night sky that showed what was really happening in her head. The way they seemed to change shades of blue as she spoke, always sparkling with stars like the night. How she'd never looked away from his cold, killer eyes as words of solemn truth flowed from her lips like a clear stream.

He couldn't remember much about the fight now, because all he cared to recall was her eyes and her words.

_Gaara was confused. Why was she complementing him? No one ever did that! He was the frightening, horrible demon of the sand! Nobody ever spoke to him so tenderly. No one…not since…_

"_We're both horrible, bloodthirsty mons-" Gaara started. But Annie's finger was on his lips._

"_**You can change that, can't you?"** _

Yes. He could change. But how, he hadn't been so sure until he'd fought with Naruto, who'd also knocked sense into him.

Now, he had to save Naruto from the legendary bone bloodline limit ninja, Kimimaru.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Annie bit her lip as she watched Naruto stand up to the creepy bone dude, fire exploding in his slit-pupiled eyes. He'd made clones to fight the bone dude, but now they were poofing up by the dozens. The guy in the purple dress, with hair white as bones, and his eyes a creepy turquoise green, literally grew bones out of his skin, and used them as weapons. It was his bloodline limit, apparently.

_Okay, first off... _She thought, _Why would you want a bone jutsu? That's so totally gross, and it probably really messed up his body! Ugh—maybe I'll just let Naruto and whoever the heck is hiding in the trees over there deal with him. I'll...sneak up behind all of them and grab the basket. Yeah. That weirdo will never see it coming._

She turned intangible once again, then disappeared under the ground. She blindly swam through the soil, hopefully in the direction of the basket. She poked her invisible head outside the earth once, just long enough to see The last of the clones poof to dust, leaving only Naruto facing him. She disappeared again, then grabbed the basket and pulled it underground. Naruto and the bone dude didn't seem to notice it, for the moment.

She started to realize that her energy was waning, and she wouldn't be able to keep up intangibility and invisibility any longer. She flew up, unable to handle it any longer.

Naruto swallowed as he started to realize the immense power of Kimimaru. He hadn't been able to _touch _this guy, even with well over fifty close at his disposal. He noticed a movement behind Kimimaru, then saw a girl, flying above him with the basket. Her finger flew to her lips, trying to shush him in order to prevent Kimimaru from noticing her. She flew higher, then started towards Konoha.

"ANNIE-CHAN!" Naruto shouted in surprise and anger. "I TOLD YOU TO WAIT AT THE VILLAGE!" Annie face-palmed. Kimimaru turned around and stared at her.

"The basket! It's been taken by _Erementaru Hana!_" He grimaced.

Annie's eyebrows knit in confusion. "Um, that's not my name. But, okay...yeah..Eremen-whatsit stole your basket. You know, kidnapping's looked down upon in most societies."

"I must give Sasuke-Sama to Orochimaru-Sama. It is my life's last mission." He muttered, then threw a sharp bone at her.

"Crap!" She muttered, then dodged it as quickly as she could. It still left a deep cut across her ankle.

"Agh..." She gripped the cut, healing it with a swirl of water.

"Annie!" Naruto cried. Now he had more than the basket to worry about. If Annie got hurt...

Then, the basket began to smoke.

"Ah!" Annie cried out in surprise. She lowered it to the ground, then opened it as quickly as she could.

"Sasuke...Sasuke-Kun..." She muttered worriedly.

Suddenly, it exploded. The blast threw her back several feet, and she coughed as the smoke caught her breath. The air cleared and she saw Sasuke, standing in the middle of the field, his black hair swept across his face, guarding his expression.

"Oh! Sasuke!" Annie gasped. She floated down to him. He didn't move to look at her, or greet her. He just stared at the ground, his hair covering his face.

"Sasuke..." Naruto blinked, then he grinned. It was a fake grin, like he was trying to make everything seem less serious then it was.

"Good job breaking out of the basket, Sasuke! Now, let's go back. We really should be heading home by now. Everyone's worried about you, Sasuke! They don't know where you are!" He laughed, like it was nothing but a silly game of hide and seek, but Annie could hear the uneasy edge in his voice. The fear. The sadness.

Then, Sasuke did the cruelest thing.

He laughed.

He laughed with wicked insanity, the loudest thing that had ever come out of Sasuke's mouth. He laughed at the pain of his friends, the village. He laughed at the tears and the sacrifices people had made to come find him.

Annie punched Sasuke in the nose.

He fell back, rubbing his nose in surprise.

"Annie-Chan?" He looked at her like she'd just appeared, and maybe she had. Maybe she'd automatically switched to invisibility and intangibility at the explosion, but she didn't care. It felt good to punch him, even if it was a cheap shot.

"You _baka, _Sasuke! You lied to me! You went to Orochimaru, you freaking _baka!_" She jumped on him and punched him again and again, his nose bleeding, now. Then, he stopped her fists and held them. She tried to yank them out, but he held them firmly.

_ The power of Orochimaru's mark, _She realized.

She wanted to kick him, crack his bones, knock him out, and take him back to the village, but something in his eyes stopped her. He let her hands go, and they flew to her necklace automatically. Sasuke pulled her to her feet, then his hands caressed back a curl of her sun-bleached light brown hair. Sasuke noticed it had started to twirl, naturally, as the recent months had passed. Like she was growing into her own perm. She was becoming more and more beautiful.

"I'm sorry." He told her. "I didn't realize what it might mean to you for me to run to your previous captor."

Annie glared at him. "Well, you do now. You're still going to go, aren't you? Even if Orochimaru is only going to turn you into one of his...containers." She shuddered.

"I will make sure he won't. I'll come back to you, Annie. Once I get my revenge."

Annie grabbed the collar of his shirt, "No. I can't trust a _boy _who promises on _revenge_. You're coming back, now. _Be a man_."

He jerked away, tearing his blue shirt in her hands. "Goodbye, Annie. For now." He took off, jumping several feet in the air, leaping from a tree to the cliffs ahead. Annie was about to follow him, and so was Naruto, but the bone dude stepped in front of him and threw a sharp bone at Annie. It pinned her sleeve to the ground. She tried to go intangible, but she didn't have the energy, so she tore her sleeve away.

"Dude, would you just like, back off? Go suck on a chicken leg." She shouted at him. He didn't seem to hear, his neutral death expression lingering on. He whipped around and attacked Annie with another bone, so fast she could barely dodge in time. It scraped her leg, then stuck into the ground.

Naruto cursed. He was out of ideas to beat this guy. He didn't want Annie to get hurt.

Then, Kimimaru and the dust went flying. Annie flew back, and landed on in a pile of sand. She looked up, and all she could see was icy sky-blue eyes, and dark makeup surrounding them.

With a little yelp of surprise, she realized it was Gaara. "What the...how did you...?"

_He'd _been the one hiding in the trees!

"Erementaru Hana. I am here to help you." He said. Nothing in the entire world could have confused Annie more. Last she checked, Gaara wanted to kill her. Plus, who was this _Erementaru Hana_? Maybe he had her mixed up with someone else.

"Oh, really? Cause, this guy wants to kill me. And he's fast. I need all the help I can get." She said, a huge grin spreading on her face as she registered that Gaara was good.

He nodded, then sand whipped up around her, and he was gone with it.

No way. Gaara was saving her.

She just wanted to grab a pillow and scream into it, it made her so happy.

She turned to face the battle, and Lee was there too. Gaara and Lee were working together to kick this guy's butt. Her first reaction; _Holy crap. Could this be happening? _Her second reaction; _OH MAH GOSH, THIS IS AWESOME._ Her third reaction; L_ee should be in the hospital! I am going to beat him up for leaving the hospital when I get home._

Naruto took Annie's wrist, which clenched the torn piece of Sasuke's shirt. "Come on, let's go catch up to Sasuke." He said.

"Oh. But, what about Gaara and Lee?" She asked.

"They'll be fine." He smiled, then she flew up, holding him by his chest, and they shot into the distance.

They caught up to Sasuke in no time. They were at the edge of a tall waterfall structure, where the body of some famous ninja, possibly the first Hokage, had been carved, giant sized. Where the sculpture's spiky hair was carved, Annie and Naruto landed, unseen by Sasuke.

"Hide, okay?" Naruto told her.

"Why?"

"To be a secret weapon. I've got a feeling..." He sighed. "You're Sasuke's only weakness. If all else fails, I'll need you hidden here."

It made sense to Annie, sort of, so she hid nearby, close enough to hear their voices.

"Sasuke! Sasuke, stop!" Naruto shouted at him. He kept walking.

"Are you just going to run away from me?" He said, his loud voice echoing on top of the waterfalls. This made Sasuke turn, slowly, to face him.

Then, Annie saw it. The curse mark had grown.

Darkness ripped across his face in jagged lines, growing from his shoulder to the edge of his nose. His eye that was surrounded by the darkness of the curse mark was entirely black, except for the gold rims around his pupils.

She choked. How could she have let this happen to him? She wanted to jump out and beat up Sasuke again, but she held back, knowing that she would be of more use later.

Sasuke's fingers traced his own face, like he was surprised that he had let this happen too, but then he composed himself.

"Leave me, Naruto. I'm going to Orochimaru, and there's nothing you can do about it."

"No! I won't leave you, Sasuke! You need to come back. I don't care what you say."

"I will come back, but I need to do this."

"No, you don't! Forget it! If you come back too late, you might be considered a rogue!"

"I have to do this. I have to get power." Sasuke's voice didn't sound just angry as he spoke about power anymore, he sounded hungry. Annie realized that there was more to it then just avenging the Uchiha Clan. He wasn't just following the trodden path of power-hungry fools, he _was _a power-hungry fool. His longing for revenge had long transformed into longing for power, which was why he hadn't heeded her warnings about revenge when he'd come to her many nights ago.

Annie face-palmed. Since when had she gotten trapped in the middle of Star Wars?

Naruto seemed scared by Sasuke's tone. He must've realized how much of a psycho Sasuke had become.

Sasuke smirked, which seemed way creepy with the curse mark crawling across his face. "Oh, what's with that face?"

Rage, hurt, and sadness rolled across Naruto's loud expressions. He seemed to be remembering all of the good and bad times he'd had with Sasuke, and now...

"Why, Sasuke...why are you doing this?" Naruto screamed. Sasuke looked surprised for a moment.

"Why do you care, what happens to me? For now, I am no longer your comrade. I no longer associate with Konoha. Someday, _maybe_ I'll come back, for Annie."

Annie's fist crushed the torn shirt piece. _Maybe?_

Naruto's teeth clenched, his fists tightened. He'd just said he'd promised Annie he'd come back. Was he going to break that promise?

No. Naruto wouldn't give him the chance.

His eyes burned. His pupils slipped into slit shapes. Red chakra flowed around him. He charged and attacked Sasuke, punching him in the jugular. Sasuke wheezed and stepped back, his eyes nearly rolling up in the back of his head, until he stood and focused again. He attacked Naruto back with just as much ferocity, kicking him in the gut and shooting four kunais at him. Naruto dodged two kunais by jumping onto the structure's outstretched hand, but the others inserted themselves in his leg. Sasuke's eyes grew as he watched the red chakra heal Naruto's skin, and the bloody kunais fell out. Naruto grabbed the two kunais, added four of his own, and threw them at him, two at a time, quick as a flash. Sasuke ran at Naruto, dodging each kunai as he got closer.

They both drew a kunai in each hand at the same time, and they clashed, the metal of the diamond-shaped daggers scraping across the other's surface, the boys growling inches from each other's faces. Naruto's kyuubi chakra started to overpower Sasuke quickly, until the darkness on Sasuke's face began to inch along like the silhouette of a tattered flag.

Annie watched in horror as the boys strained against each other's strength, knife to knife, chin to chin. They tried to push each other toward either side of the first Hokage's hand. If they fell off, they would fall thousands of feet, plunge into the ice cold waterfall, and never see the light of day.

Annie jumped from her hiding place, then swirled huge amounts water from far below to her hands, then shot the two huge streams at the boys. They were so focused on each other, that they didn't even notice them until the water swirled around them and separated them, and they were carried back onto the sculpture's larger and much safer head. The streams wrapped around everything but their heads and neck, then hardened into ice.

Normally, the kyuubi chakra would've melted the ice in a second, but Naruto was so surprised that his eyes were blue and his teeth fang-less once more.

"Annie! What are you doing?" Naruto yelled.

"I'm not going to let you two kill each other! This is stupid. We should just go home and forget this stupid stuff ever happened." She held the two huge pieces of ice in the air, her eyes fiery as if to say: _Anyone resists me, and they get to fall a thousand feet into an ice cold waterfall of death._

Sasuke struggled. He tried to break the ice, but it was too thick and powerful for him to bust through by force, especially in his current position. Naruto didn't fight, he just looked a little ticked that she had intervened in their epic battle.

"Annie...please...let me out..." He whined.

"Oh, I will. Don't worry. As soon as we're back at the village, with a bunch of Juunin making sure Sasuke doesn't go_ baka _on us again." She flew into the air, the ice trailing behind her.

Sasuke watched Annie. She refused to meet his eyes. He knew that she was a little more than miffed about this whole situation. He could see emotions in her every move. Betrayal. Hurt. Deep sadness. Anger. Frustration. He knew no amount of "sorry"'s would ever fix this with her. Just like Orochimaru.

In her eyes, he'd gone down to Orochimaru's level.

He might as well stay there.


	32. This is Your Last Kiss

A pretty girl of thirteen flew along the clouds, her long, wild, light brown hair flying across her back, her deep blue eyes flashing as she scanned the ground for trouble. She realized she was sort've flying like Superman, except without the weird outfit. It was probably strange for some people to look up and see a teenager in green camouflage khaki pants, red t-shirt, sneakers, and a hip water pack flying through the sky, except that in the Fire Country, that sort of strange sight happened all the time.

In fact, two huge pieces of ice containing very ticked off looking boys were floating behind her at that very moment.

The ice cracked.

"Annie-Chan! He's breaking out!" Naruto cried.

Annie whipped around. She realized Sasuke was struggling against the ice again, only this time, he was even more powerful from the curse mark. His entire body had turned a dark gray, both his eyes were gold and black, and his lips were purple. His hair had grown longer and spiked into gray needles.

She struggled to will the ice back together. Sasuke made the ice crack more, breaking it faster than she could weld it. He proved too strong for her, and broke free. Annie was about to watch him fall thousands of feet into the forest below, but then he grew a pair of black, bony wings, too.

"Awful haircut, gray hair, deathly complexion, bat wings...Dude. You ugly." She said.

Naruto laughed. "She's right, you look ridiculous, bat-face."

"Why did you have to uglify yourself just to get powerful? I mean, good looks can get you plenty of power on any reality TV show." Annie snorted.

Sasuke growled. "You two don't understand. Power is much more important to me than looks."

"Apparently." Annie gestured to him. She and Naruto laughed.

Annie blinked away her tears from laughing so hard, and suddenly, Sasuke was in her face.

"Holy sh-!" Sasuke grabbed her and covered her mouth. Annie squirmed, but Sasuke was stronger than she was with his new Curse Mark power.

"Orochimaru-Sama said to bring you with me. I wasn't going to, but now I know it's the only way for us to be together." He whispered. Annie gagged. Sasuke was officially off his rocker.

Naruto's eyes went kyuubi. His red chakra exploded the ice. Annie guessed he had heard what Sasuke had said, because he had already grown two tails. Annie could tell that he wanted to strangle Sasuke, but he held himself back for fear of hurting Annie.

"SASUKE! LEAVE HER ALONE!" He screamed. Sasuke grinned and tossed Annie aside, who fell about thirty feet before finally catching herself. Naruto jumped onto Sasuke and attacked him. Sasuke threw him off. Naruto would have fallen to the ground, being the only one who couldn't fly, but Annie controlled the air currents around him as much as she could, and he went back to attacking Sasuke. They punched and kicked and clashed knives. Naruto summoned clone after clone and punched several Rasengans at him, which Sasuke opposed with his Chidori. Annie flew towards them, summoned a fireball, then was about to attack Sasuke with it, but...

She just couldn't.

As psycho and horrible and inhuman-looking as Sasuke had become, she couldn't torch him. Deep down, somewhere, he was still their teammate.

She suddenly remembered something. _The picture._

Annie threw a knife at Sasuke's wings, and pinned them together perfectly. He started to fall, but she made a bubble (A new combination of her water and air manipulation) around Sasuke and Naruto, and they both floated down to earth.

When they landed, the bubbles popped, and Sasuke and Naruto charged at each other, but Annie stomped up a wall of solid rock between them. She stood on the wall, looking down at them.

"Sasuke. You've forgotten." Annie said to Sasuke.

He frowned. "Forgotten what?"

"The picture. The Team 7 picture I gave you. Do you still have it?"

He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out the photograph. He fingered and unfolded it like it was a new, unread letter. His eyes flickered between Annie and the photo.

"So? What's your point? It's just a picture." He said. Annie's heart broke when he said that. He had forgotten.

"Don't you remember what it means? Look at us, new and fresh and innocent, we won those bells before that picture because we worked like a team. We had each other's back. Look at Sakura! Don't you realize how much she has changed? She didn't just cut her hair, either. She grew up. She matured and learned new things because of this team. Why can't you remember that?"

Sasuke wasn't looking at Sakura. He looked at Annie.

Her cute smile...

Her adorable eyes...

Her shiny, soft hair, as she jumped in the picture...

Her arms around Naruto's neck...

Sasuke growled and put it back in his pocket. When he looked at that picture, that was all he could see. Annie and Naruto. Naruto and Annie. Plus, the nasty little tidbit that Naruto had gotten much stronger and more powerful since that picture, while Sasuke seemed almost exactly the same.

_"Never forget __**this, **__okay?"_

He punched the rock wall, shaking it and leaving a good-sized crater.

Annie whistled. "Okay, so you obviously don't remember. Or maybe, you remember too much. Sasuke, this is ridiculous. We need to go home."

"Fine, then. Who will go home?" He glared up at her.

"What?" Annie asked, as she kicked down the wall.

"Annie. You know how I've felt—how I _feel_ about you. And Naruto, it's obvious he feels the same way." Sasuke swallowed. His features started to fade back to normal. His long, gray hair shrunk and darkened. His talons turned back into hands. His skin colored again. His eyes were white and black once more. His wings vanished.

Annie's cheeks burned. The confrontation she'd been dreading for so long...

"You have to choose one of us. This has gone on long enough." He stated. Naruto's eyes grew wide as he started to understand.

"I-it doesn't matter. You both need to come back. Besides, Naruto and I aren't the issue, here, Sasuke. You are."

"Oh, yeah? Well, if it's not an issue, then why don't you choose?"

"B-because you're making it one! Who I love shouldn't matter to your ninja way!" She argued. She grew angry at Sasuke, but only because she was frustrated he was forcing her to do this.

"Yes, it does. Who you love means the world to me. Much more than my ninja way. Well, Annie? Which one of us?" Sasuke demanded.

"I don't want to choose!"

"Only one of us will go back!" Sasuke glared at Naruto. "The one you choose."

Annie looked down. Naruto thought tears would start flowing from her eyes, but instead, her clenched fists shook with rage as she looked up.

"Sasuke-Kun, you idiot. You psychotic, crazy, messed up idiot." She glared at him with gritted teeth. Her eyes were dark, the stars gone, replaced with chaotic rage.

"Yesterday, only _yesterday, _I was almost confused about which guy I liked. I decided that I was too young to make decisions like that, and I would wait a while. But now..." She huffed and glared at Sasuke. She stepped forward, took his chin in her hand, then kissed the boy fiercely and quickly, like lightning. Sasuke stumbled back, then kissed her back until she pulled away.

Naruto winced and looked down, his heart starting to crack. He'd almost been sure that Annie had shared the same feelings he had about her.

Annie composed herself and stepped away from Sasuke, putting her hand on Naruto's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sasuke, but if you're going down this nut-job path, I can't follow you. That was your last kiss."


	33. We All Fall Down

"That was your last kiss."

The words hit Sasuke like a hammer, jolting his mind and his nerves to nothing. He couldn't speak. He couldn't move. He couldn't even breath.

He had lost her.

To _him._

Sasuke wanted to get angry. He wanted to jump up and kick Naruto and beat him to a pulp. But his limbs were frozen in shock.

Seeing Sasuke like this, Annie's anger melted right off her face. She realized what she had done. She'd ruined everything. Her friendship with Sasuke, any chance they had to bring him back. Her anger, her pride, had wrecked the whole situation. She could've told him she didn't know, told him that he and Naruto needed to prove themselves by going back to the village and being heroes.

But most of all, she'd broken Sasuke's heart.

Things were could only get worse, now.

She dropped her head in her hands, her face covered as hot tears puddled around her eyes.

Her vision blocked from the world, she only looked up when she heard a huge explosion.

She didn't need to see to know that the fight had started.

Naruto lost his breath as his back slammed against the tree. Sasuke pummeled him until the wood splintered, and they both collapsed onto the ground. Naruto stood first and made a clone, his body and mind working quickly as he made a Rasengan. Sasuke stood with Chidori crackling in his hands, his eyes red with his Uchiha bloodline symbol, anger written in every line of his face. Naruto stared back at him with no emotions, except maybe sadness. Once, he'd wanted to beat Sasuke in a fight. He'd imagined standing triumphantly over him in a dust-fall scene so many times, it had happened in his dreams. But, now, it would be a hollow victory. He was merely a turned comrade with a broken heart.

They charged, and Annie's last minute heart-rate charged idea kicked in. She hoped with all her heart it would work. If it didn't, one of them, or maybe both, would die.

She kicked the earth, manipulated the tree in front of her, and pushed it. The tree tore across the earth, staying upright as it slid in between the two boys. A tree wouldn't do much, but it might just block the attacks enough that they wouldn't die.

Rasengan and Chidori splintered the huge tree all the way through easily. The spinning balls of energy clashed, and the blast shook the entire forest, rippling the air with energy.

Annie covered her ears and closed her eyes as she flew back from the blow. She didn't see the tree she'd shot between Sasuke and Naruto teeter over as it was severed by the attacks. It fell in the direction of where she was laying.

Naruto heard the crash of the tree somewhere in the back of his mind, but it seemed about as important as everything else that had fallen because of the clash. He hadn't cared that a tree had suddenly appeared in front of him and Sasuke. What mattered was that if he made a wrong move, Sasuke would kill him in a second.

Annie's scream of pain.

Naruto kicked Sasuke in the gut when he didn't expect it, and Sasuke doubled over, chidori short-circuiting in his hands. He scrambled away from Sasuke and ran toward the cry.

He had to save her. What had happened?

He looked across the fallen tree and gasped.

Annie was laying face-down on the ground, her arms stretched out like she was trying to crawl away. She was barely breathing, here back and legs most likely broken, because the tree had fallen on top of her and crushed everything below her waist.

"NO!" He screamed. He ran to the huge tree and tried to lift it, but it was too heavy. Under the strain and stress, he went kyuubi, and easily lifted the tree off of her body after he grew two tails.

Sasuke came up to Naruto and tried to stab him and fight him again, but Naruto shot him a firm look. Naruto _never _sent firm looks at people, so Sasuke immediately understood that something bad had happened. Then he saw Annie too.

He looked across the tree and realized it was the one he and Naruto had broken during the fight. It was his fault she'd been hurt. He had started the fight with Naruto in the first place.

Naruto looked up to ask Sasuke for help to return Annie to the village, but Sasuke was gone. Where could he have gone? Why did he leave now, of all times?

Naruto shook his head and focused on Annie. She wasn't as bad as any normal person would be after getting crushed by a tree. Everything is her lower body was bent funny, she seemed a little flatter than normal, but she was breathing and her heart was beating. No internal parts seemed to be harmed. Her legs were crushed, and her backbone might be a goner, but that could be saved by her water healing. She had learned how to mend bones a few weeks ago, which would drive Tsunade nuts if she ever found out.

Annie coughed and groaned. Her arms moved to her water pack, but that had been crushed with rest of her body. She put her hands on the ground and sucked water from the grass, leaving it brown and dry. Naruto helped her turn over. She swirled energy around her lower body and completely blanketed it in the glowing, shifting blue water.

"Oh, gosh, this is gonna hurt..." She grimaced, then squeezed her fist. All at once, the bones in her legs and feet set. Annie screamed, and Naruto winced as he held her hands and tried to comfort her

The pain was quick and sharp, so soon she relaxed and her legs started to feel almost normal, but she knew it would be a few hours of constant healing before she could move.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-Kun...I shouldn't have come." She muttered to him. He shook his head.

"No, Annie. It's not your fault. You saved my life."

"But...I couldn't save Sasuke. You could've done it if I hadn't gotten in the way."

"That's not true at all. I knew I would need your help."

She punched the ground. "Dang it! I shouldn't have been so stupid!" She wanted to throw knives at trees, but she had seen enough of those today. Naruto calmed her down, and took off the pack full of knives and ninja weapons that he normally wore around his calf. He shook the weapons out of it, folded it, and laid Annie's head on the softer side of the pack. It was another reason he liked wearing all the time. It didn't make a bad pillow.

"Thank you, Naruto-Kun." She mumbled. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fell asleep, instantly.

"No, Annie-Chan...Thank you. You've always been there for me. And, I promise, Sasuke will come back. And he will be _very_ sorry for leaving you like this."

_**Author's Note-**_

_** My respect for Sasuke just collapsed and crumpled and shriveled into little teeny tiny pieces. Then again, it's always been that way. Since episode two or three or something like that...I mean, he's such a jerk. Naruto's been bullied and hurt far worse then he ever has, and he's never even had parents or family or any good memories up until he graduates from Ninja Academy. I mean, yeah, Sasuke was scarred for life by his brother killing the entire clan, but Naruto was pretty much scarred every second of his childhood. I guess that's partially why I started writing this story, because Naruto needed someone who would be his healer. :3 **_

_** Sasuke can just have a crappy life full of self-inflicted pain, though. I mean, think about it! All the ladies had the hots for him, all the guys were jealous of him, he had amazing ninja skills, he had a real team that cared about him like family, and he just went rogue on everybody. He gets a magic L on his forehead. Your thoughts?**_

_** Hmm...That makes me think...**_

_** Okay, anyways, the next chapter IS **__**THE VERY LAST ONE.**__** I know:( Sad:(**_

_** Until I write the sequel! Yaaay!**_


	34. Her Dreamer Leaves: A Goodbye Kiss

Annie sighed and collapsed on the floor of her cabin.

"Another failed attempt to find him." She muttered. She'd known from the beginning of the mission that it was a lost cause. For one thing, her legs had still hurt even after long been healed, so her movement on the ground was somewhat limited. For another, she knew how tricky Orochimaru was with his hideouts. He moved every week, taking Sasuke with him wherever he went. He never left a trace when he moved, and he never made a sound as he traveled. Not to mention his hideouts were almost impossible to find.

Naruto tried to cheer her up. "Oh, come on, Annie-Chan! We'll find him. I mean, you're the legendary Elemental Girl, _Erementaru Hana_, and I have the Kyuubi. We'll combine our powers and get him back. Just you wait and see. I promise!" Annie frowned. She sat back on her bed and squeezed her old washer necklace. She always did that when she was thinking about something sad.

"But…we have to save him before…"

"Before what, Annie-Chan?"

"…Before I turn fifteen. I'll have to leave."

Naruto's eyes became dark. "Oh. Right."

Annie winced. She knew Naruto hated the subject of her leaving. But they both knew that, somehow, someday, she had to go back to New York. It was inevitable.

"Speaking of leaving, Annie…" Naruto began, then he bit his lip, like he was about to say something that would get him hurt.

"What?" She braced herself.

He took a breath. "I've already told most of the village. Jiraiya came back from his super-long mission today. He made an offer."

Annie gulped. "What kind of offer?"

"He wants me to come with him on a year-and-a-half long journey." He said quickly. Annie tried to register what he'd just said. Naruto was….leaving?

"B-but…I'll almost have to leave by then!"

Naruto nodded. "I know. But I can get so much stronger training with him! Finding Sasuke, it would be so much easier. And…Oh, Annie, I know this will be hard…"

"You think?" She muttered. She couldn't imagine spending a year and a half without him by her side. She squeezed Naruto's hand, resisting the urge to judo-flip him for even thinking about leaving Konoha.

Naruto sighed, then looked into her eyes. "Annie, I promise I'll be back before you turn fifteen. I'll be back, and I'll be super strong, and we'll bring Sasuke back together. I swear."

Annie tried not to cry, and hugged him tightly. "You never break a promise. When are you and Jiraiya leaving?"

"Before dawn, tomorrow." He said. Annie's heart jerked. So soon? It was already sunset, now…

"That's so soon…Naruto, I should throw you a goodbye party, or do something…"

"How about just me and you?" He took her hand. She liked that idea. A walk around the village, a visit to some friends, some ramen at Ichiraku…

But, she wanted to make today special, too.

"You know…" She glanced at him slyly. "I've never really taken you into the air, just for fun, have I?"

Naruto gulped. "Well, there was that one time…but, uh, you promised not to talk about that."

Annie snickered. "Come on; let's just take an easy flight. It's nearly nightfall. The sky is beautiful."

Naruto grinned. "Sounds great, Annie. But, uh, stay low-ish. I'm not as accustomed to an oxygen-less atmosphere as you are." He teased.

She grinned and nodded. They took each other's hands and went outside. Annie breathed in the crisp night air. The sun was only a rim of gold in the distance, hidden by trees and mountains.

A big, clear bubble formed around Naruto's body. He sat down as the bubble glided through the air, with Annie swooping around it. She laughed, and Naruto realized how much enjoyed flying. She was so carefree and happy, flying was her idea of an ideal date. Naruto watched her as she flew and spun through the air, her light brown hair and smooth tan skin on fire in the sunset, her white smile brilliant. She kicked off her shoes and socks, and they dropped hundreds of feet into the forest, which only made them both laugh. Annie swam through the air, and Naruto was content just to take in the beautiful view as he sat in the floating bubble beside her, which was mostly Annie.

The sun set, and the sky grew dark. Flashy stars and constellations shone across the sky. Annie danced among them, spinning and flying, Naruto only able to see her small silhouette contrasting with the night sky as she bobbed through it.

Annie floated towards him, neither saying a word as her face grew to only centimeters from the surface of the bubble. Naruto leaned in closer. She blinked her dark blue eyes at him, which seemed to match the night sky around her.

Annie studied Naruto's clear tropical sea-color eyes, which seemed to match the sky in the daytime.

Day and Night closed their eyes.

And they kissed.

Their first real kiss. The times before, it had been quick pecks, when one of them were too injured to even realize what was happening at the moment.

Now, it was real, and whole, and true. Annie's heart beat fast, her mind whirled, and she forgot that she was supposed to be maintaining the bubble.

It popped, and Annie grabbed Naruto-Kun before he could fall and before their kiss could separate. They hovered in the air, then began to float down to earth.

They finally pulled away when they touched the ground. Naruto was grinning like an idiot. Annie blushed bright red.

They stood there for a while, holding hands, hardly able to see each other's face in the dark, but feeling their pulse in each other's hands, and their steady breathing.

Naruto took Annie's hands, and they started to walk back to the village.

. . . . . . . . .

The next morning, Annie was at the gate before Jiraiya and Naruto. When they got there, Annie hugged Naruto and told him to be home on time, or else she'd have to kill him. He laughed, but internally worried about how much she was telling the truth.

"Annie-Chan, be careful. Train hard, kick butt, go on a bunch of A-rank missions, but still be careful." He smiled.

Annie laughed. "You too, Naruto-Kun."

"I'll miss you, _Watashi no Karu._"

"And I'll miss you, _Watashi no Muso-Ka._"

With that, Naruto and Jiraiya turned around and headed down the beaten path, soon disappearing in the trees of the thick forest, not to be seen for a long time.

Annie's smile slowly faded, as the realization that the boy she loved was gone edged into her heart. Annie's hand went to clutch her heart, but instead she found her necklace, and it's constant comfort that it always gave her.

A year and a half.

She just needed to wait a year and a half for her Day Dreamer to come back.

** End of Naruto's Friend. **

** Coming soon: Naruto's Friend: Shippuden, sequel to Naruto's Friend. **

_**Author's Note:**_

_** AGGHH! MY FEELS! I'm done with Naruto's Friend! Forever! Until I upload the new story soon!:\ It'll be called Naruto's Friend: Shippuden. (Might as well keep it simple, right?)**_


End file.
